Started 16 years ago with only two commercial planes, AirAsia (Bursa: 5099) now flies 174 commercial aircraft covering 225 routes connecting 109 destinations in 18 countries. By the end of this year, shareholders will be proud to know AirAsia will be operating 202 aircraft.

With the motto: “Now everyone can fly”, AirAsia has flown 369 million people since its beginning. I (and many of you) have certainly contributed to this statistic. Last year alone, AirAsia flew 56.6 million passengers.

It is well-known that Tony Fernandes, group CEO of AirAsia Berhad, bought the troubled and debt-ridden airline for one ringgit in 2001. But he has since transformed AirAsia into the most successful low cost carrier (LCC) operator in Asia that is worth RM10 billion today. It commands almost half of the market share for both domestic (47%) and international (49%) flights in Malaysia. AirAsia has also won many awards including ...