AirAsia

AirAsia was originally incorporated in 1993 as a government-owned commercial airline before being privatized. The airline nearly failed under its first private management. In December 2001, Tony Fernandes and his partner Kamarudin Meranun purchased AirAsia for a nominal sum of one ringgit — acquiring the airline and its approximately RM40 million in debt. Fernandes, who had worked at Warner Music and had no aviation background, immediately implemented the Southwest Airlines low-cost model in Asia.

AirAsia launched with the slogan "Now Everyone Can Fly" — a bold declaration that resonated enormously in a region where air travel had been the exclusive preserve of the wealthy. The airline grew explosively: within two years it had become profitable and was expanding to Thailand and Indonesia. The 2003 SARS epidemic, which crippled most Asian carriers, barely affected AirAsia because its ultra-low fares were impervious to the disease's impact on business travel. AirAsia went public on Bursa Malaysia in 2004.

The airline's partnership with Airbus — ordering over 400 A320 family aircraft — became one of the largest aircraft orders in Asia and helped drive down per-seat costs dramatically. AirAsia X was established in 2007 as a long-haul low-cost subsidiary. The AirAsia Group expanded to the Philippines (2012), India (2013, via AirAsia India), Cambodia, and other markets. COVID-19 was devastating — the airline's fleet was almost entirely grounded for months — but AirAsia recovered strongly, carrying a record 63 million passengers in 2024.