Biography Ananda Krishnan

Mr. Anthony Francis Fernandes born 30 April 1964 is a Malaysian entrepreneur and the founder of Tune Air who introduced the first budget no-frills airline, Air Asia, to Malaysians with the tagline "Now everyone can fly". At a young age, Tony Fernandes used to follow his mother, a businesswoman to Tupperware dealer parties. He was educated at Epsom College 1977-1983 and then graduated from the London School of Economics in 1987. His first idea was to have a low-cost long-haul carrier, he wanted an airline that would fly between his home country, Malaysia, and the UK. That was a journey. Mr. Anthony Fernandes desperately wanted to do when he was at school in the UK but couldn't because the fares to return home to Malaysia were just too high. The concept was in his mind since childhood. Pavlovian conditioning makes him achieve in his career today, which others are just dream.

He was Financial Controller at Virgin Communications London from 1987 to 1989, Senior Financial Analyst at Warner Music International London from 1989 to 1992, Managing Director at Warner Director at Warner Music Malaysia, from 1992 to 1996, Regional Managing Director, ASEAN from August 1996 to December 1999 and Vice President, ASEAN from December 1999 to July 2001 at Warner Music South East Asia. He was actively involved in developing the Malaysian music industry and received the title ‘Setia Mahkota Selangor’ from DYMM Sultan Selangor Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah in 1999 in recognition of his contributions and was also the recipient of the ‘Recording Industry Person of the Year 1997’ by the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia

Within the space of five years, Asian budget carrier Air Asia has grown quickly, helping to shake up the airline business in the region. With its fleet of 30 Boeing 737-300 aircraft and 15 Airbus A320s, the no-frills airline currently flies to more than 45 destinations in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Macau, China, Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and...