Tony Fernandes, AirAsia and The Paintball World Cup Asia
AirAsia
AirAsia was established in 1993 and commenced operations on 18 November 1996. It was originally founded by a government-owned conglomerate DRB-Hicom. On 2 December 2001, the heavily-indebted airline was purchased by former Time Warner executive Tony Fernandes's company Tune Air Sdn Bhd for the token sum of one ringgit (about $USD0.40 at the time). This was after great deliberation as the initial offer was fifty sen.
Instead of starting from scratch, Tun Dr. Mahathir advised Fernandes to buy an existing airline instead. Fernandes mortgaged his home and sank his savings to acquire the company, comprising two ageing Boeing 737-300 jets (9M-AAA and 9M-AAB) and USD$11 million (RM40 million) worth of debts, for 26 US cents (one ringgit), and transformed it into an industry player.
Coming just after the 11 September 2001, undoubtedly the worst day in the history of commercial aviation when nobody wanted to fly, everyone thought that Fernandes had gone "crazy", predicting that the company would fail miserably. Yet, just one year after his takeover, AirAsia had broken even and cleared all its debts. Its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2004 was oversubscribed by 130 per cent.
Fernandes proceeded to engineer a remarkable turnaround, turning a profit in 2002 and launching new routes from its hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport at breakneck speed, undercutting former monopoly operator Malaysia Airlines with promotional fares as low as RM1 (US$0.27).
Official Website:
http://www.airasia.com
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AirAsia
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes was educated at Epsom College 1977-83 and then graduated from the London School of Economics in 1987. He worked very briefly with Virgin Atlantic as an auditor, subsequently becoming the financial controller for Richard Branson's Virgin Records in London from 1987 to 1989.
Tony was admitted as Associate Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in 1991 and became Fellow Member in 1996.
Upon his return to Malaysia, he became the youngest managing director of Warner Music (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. Though an accountant, Fernandes is an amateur guitarist and also has achieved grade 8 piano which is where his musical inclination lies. He was responsible for revolutionising ethnic music, nasyid and dangdut, bringing them into the mainstream of contemporary Malaysian music.
He subsequently became the South East Asian regional vice-president for Warner Music Group from 1992-2001. When Time Warner Inc announced its merger with America Online Inc., Fernandes left to pursue his dream of starting a budget no-frills airline. However, his application for a license from the Malaysian government was rejected.
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Fernandes
OTHER VENTURES
AirAsia and NFL Team Oakland Raiders
AirAsia plans to mark its first landing in the United States Monday by flying an Oakland Raiders branded jet into Oakland Airport, although it still has not date for actual service in the U.S. The flight, from Kuala Lumpur, is scheduled to land in time for the Raiders’ season opener against the San Diego Chargers. The National Football League team and AirAsia partnered in an effort to expand the Raiders’ fan base in Asia and promote AirAsia in the U.S.
AirAsia - Title sponsor of the 2010 AirAsia British Grand Prix at Silverstone
Tune Hotels
In 2007, Tony Fernandes started a hotel chain, Tune Hotels, based on the no-frills concept. The first Tune Hotel was opened at the intersection of Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Another new Tune Hotel will be opening soon in Bali, Indonesia. As of 2009,
Fernandes is also the president of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL). Fernandes has stated that it has always been a dream of his to be able to be involved with the development of sports in the ASEAN region.
AirAsia - Previously the partner of AT&T Williams Formula One team
AirAsia - Previously the official low-cost airline for Manchester United Football Club
Sponsor of AirAsia-Sepang International Circuit-Ajo Racing Team
Owner and Team Principal of Lotus Racing/Team Lotus Formula One - F1
Fernandes is the team principal of the new Team Lotus, which raced in the 2010 Formula One season, and has an entry for 2011, albeit with considerable controversy about the Lotus name. The naming dispute with Group Lotus was partly resolved with the ruling that Fernandes is the legal owner of the Team Lotus name and brand in Formula One, although Group Lotus has mounted an appeal.
On 16 December 2009, Fernandes accepted a "challenge" from Richard Branson, a fellow airline boss and the owner of Lotus' fellow F1 newcomers Virgin Racing, where the losing team's boss should work on the winner's airline for a day dressed as a stewardess joking "The sexier the better. Our passengers will be delighted to be served by a Knight of the Realm, but knowing Richard, the real challenge will be to prevent him from asking our guests 'coffee, tea or me?' That would be scary." On top of this, the team also produced a poster depicting Branson in an Air Asia uniform. On 27 April 2011, Team Lotus Enterprise owner Tony Fernandes announced that his team had purchased Caterham Cars.
Owner of Queens Park Rangers QPR Football Club - English Premier League
On 18 August 2011, he was unveiled as the majority shareholder of Queens Park Rangers, having bought Bernie Ecclestone's 66% share. He was also named as chairman of QPR Holdings Ltd.
Owner and Group CEO of AirAsia and influential in Malaysia Airlines. AirAsia-Malaysia Airlines form partnership
Budget carrier AirAsia and state-owned Malaysia Airlines formed an alliance Tuesday through a share swap deal to end their long rivalry and boost business.
Awards
Fernandes has also been honoured by King of Malaysia with title Tan Sri , Dato' Sri and also by the government of France with the Legion d'Honneur Order. In 2011, Tony Fernandes was awarded a CBE or Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace "for services to promote commercial and educational links" between Malaysia and the UK.
Forbes
Awarded Forbes Asia 2010 businessman of the year. In 2010, Forbes Asia valued Fernandes' personal wealth at $330 million ranking him at number 19 on the Forbes list of Malaysia's Richest.
Tony Fernandes, AirAsia and The Paintball World Cup Asia
Tony Fernandes in the AllStar Exhibition Match
Ollie Lang and Ryan Greenspan from Team San Diego Dynasty USA with Tony Fernandes
Justin Rabackoff from Team Russian Legion and Steve Rabackoff with Tony Fernandes
Eric Prum from Virtue Paintball /S2 Customs with Tony Fernandes
AirAsia Xtioneers All-Star Paintball Team with Tony Fernandes
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes graced The Paintball World Cup Asia back in year 2010 as the Guest of Honour. He participated in the all-star demo. match
and also witnessed the Division 1 Finals between Team Datis-Iran and Team Bad Element-France.
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes is a strong supporter of The Paintball World Cup Asia 2011 from the corporate sector and has shown keen interest to develop the sport of paintball together with PALS.
