SINGAPORE : Buoyed by the success of his one-month-old venture
in Thailand, AirAsia founder and chief executive Tony Fernandes is
brimming with confidence as he slugs it out with Singapore Airlines
(SIA) to establish the region's leading low-cost carrier.
He views SIA's decision to jump on the no-frills bandwagon as a
compliment and is unfazed by the prospects of facing Tiger Airways,
which is backed by the formidable war chest of the national
carrier.
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SIA holds a 49 percent stake in Tiger Airways in a four-way venture
that also includes European budget carrier Ryanair's founder, Tony
Ryan.
"To get SIA imitating you, that's flattering isn't it," Fernandes
told AFP last week in Singapore, where he was a speaker at a
two-day symposium on the challenges facing the low cost airline
industry in Asia.
"Not just for me... it's for my whole company and staff.
"They should be very proud to have SIA, one of the world's most
famous airlines, trying to imitate it."
Fernandes, 39, is clearly relishing the challenge from SIA, taking
the fight into the carrier's home turf by roping in a Singaporean
partner to apply for a licence to operate an airline in the
city-state.
"We're going to create a lot of people (passengers) who haven't
flown before," said Fernandes, who does not see Singapore's tiny
population of four million as a drawback.
"We have some interesting ideas for the routes which many people
wouldn't even have thought of doing," he said, but refused to be
drawn into giving more details until he gets the green light for
his 120-million-Singapore dollar (71.42-million-US dollar)
venture.
Fernandes said he wanted to have the airline operating as soon as
possible, but he had not been given any indication from the
government as to how long it will take to get regulatory
approval.
The Singapore venture is the latest step taken by the two-year-old
Malaysian company to become Southeast Asia's version of European
budget carrier Ryanair.
From its humble beginning with just two Boeing 737-300 jets in 2001
plying Malaysia's domestic routes, AirAsia has expanded at a
furious pace under the helm of Fernandes, an accountant by training
who previously had no experience of running an airline.
It now has a fleet of 14 Boeing 737-300 aircraft and aims to
increase that to 30 before December.
It already flies to Thailand and is keen to spread its wings to
Indonesia.
In Thailand, its joint-venture with Shin Corp., the family firm of
Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatre, serves routes linking
Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai, Kon Kaen and
Nakornrachasima.
His lack of prior experience of running an airline did not deter
Fernandes from pursuing his dream of starting AirAsia, a move which
sceptics said was doomed to failure because the low-cost concept
would not be warmly embraced by the region's travellers.
"I think we definitely take credit for that," was Fernandes'
response when asked if AirAsia's success was the reason behind
several premium service carriers' decisions to launch similar
set-ups in the region.
Apart from SIA, Thai Airways and Qantas have also launched their
own no-frills carriers.
Fernandes remains confident despite the growing number of rivals
snapping at his heels on the field, attributing his success to the
Thai venture which has proved he has the winning formula to fend
off the competition.
AirAsia's Thai venture is already profitable ahead of initial
projections and Fernandes is convinced his plans to extend the
AirAsia brand to Singapore will also prove to be a winner.
"Yes, I am confident," Fernandes said.
"I am really thrilled to say that we are heading towards profit in
our first month in Thailand which we are so excited about because
we thought it would take us a year to make money."
