Tony Fernandes credits govt for AirAsia's success

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has credited the caretaker government for assisting and providing all the opportunities to the budget's airline to grow into one of the biggest global brands for the past 10 years.
He attributed the caretaker government in managing both government-linked companies (GLCs) and private companies such as AirAsia in seeing what was best for Malaysia.
This has enabled AirAsia to flourish and win many awards, he said in a YouTube post, #NegaraKru, uploaded today.
"We have grown due to market-based policies, through protectionism being brought down and we hope in the way forward companies such as ours, will thrive, and there will be more AirAsia, more jobs created, more meritocracy, and that is the Malaysia I dream for, so vote wisely," he said.
Fernandes added that there were a lot of fake news, including about himself, and advised Malaysians not to go to the polls based on information that might not be accurate, or based on hearsay.
"AirAsia has gone from two planes to 230 planes, from 200,000 passengers, and to this year, we carry 89 million passengers, and I believe the (caretaker) Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak) put people first and allow AirAsia to grow despite opposition from all over the place.
"Go to the polls based on facts and AirAsia is a fact," he added. — Bernama