Tony Fernandes, the team principal of the Lotus Racing team and Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia, has been conferred the Commander of the Order of the British Empire title by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his services to promote commercial and educational links between the United Kingdom and Malaysia.
A great entrepreneur, Fernandes and his three partners turned an ailing AirAsia around in just over nine years into Asia’s largest low-cost carrier that links the southeast region to the larger world with affordable air travel. In 2007, he founded AirAsia X, the long-haul carrier that now connects Kuala Lumpur to London, further spurring travel between the countries for tourists and students alike.
He then stepped into the pinnacle of motorsports, Formula One, leading the Lotus Racing team through the 2010 season. Together with his partners for that venture, Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin, the trio have achieved their target for last year of being the top new team and are now looking to mount a stronger battle for this year.
Not content with just reshaping the air travel industry, Fernandes has applied his AirAsia tagline, ‘Now Everyone Can Fly,’ into other ventures as well. He founded the Tune Group of companies that is the umbrella corporation for Tune Hotels (budget hotels, including one in central London), Tune Talk (pre-paid mobile telecommunications provider) and Tune Money (insurance and finance). Fernandes was also a key figure in the effort to found a campus for Britain’s prestigious Epsom College in Malaysia, something he held close to his heart as Epsom was his alma mater.
“I'm grateful to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for the honour. It is recognition of the hard work, determination and effort on the part of all my partners, colleagues and staff in AirAsia, Tune Group and Team Lotus. We have a terrific bunch of talented people working with us to make things happen in whatever venture we undertake. This is as much their award as it is mine,” said Fernandes on the award.
This is the second major European award conferred on Fernandes. Last year, he was awarded the title of Officier of the Légion d’honneur by the French Government, the highest award for a non-French national, for his contributions to the aviation industry. He was also recently named ‘Asia Businessman of the Year 2010’ by Forbes magazine.
Having achieved his dreams on the back of his personal credo of, ‘Dream the impossible, believe the unbelievable and never take no for an answer,’ Fernandes is determined to hel others realise their dreams too through his business ventures.
