Dato' Sri Tony Fernandes Given Honorary Doctorate Of Business Inno

KUALA LUMPUR, 27 March 2010 – AirAsia Group CEO Dato' Sri Tony Fernandes was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Business Innovation by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), at the university's 44th Convocation Ceremony in Skudai, Johor today.

The inaugural doctorate was presented to Tony by UTM Pro-Chancellor, YMM Raja Zarith Sofiah Almarhum Sultan Idris Shah, for his contributions to the country, academic excellence and society. The university praised his role in changing the face of aviation and benefitting travelers and economies locally and in the region. Furthermore, Tony's recent ventures into the world of Formula One™ with the ever-progressing Lotus Racing team, shows innovation of a different level.

UTM Vice Chancellor Professor Datuk Ir Dr. Zaini Ujang said, "We honour Dato' Sri Tony with the doctorate for his achievement with AirAsia, the pioneer of low fares in Malaysia. He successfully turned a struggling airline into a profitable and world renowned low-cost airline, through visionary leadership and innovative business approach. We also praise him for being a keen contributor to academic development in UTM, through his involvement with the Global Outreach Program, providing graduates with academic exposure plus training and research opportunities overseas."

Under the Lotus Racing Team Prinicpal's leadership, AirAsia has grown into a world-class and innovative brand with its revolutionary low fares, premium products and high quality services. After taking over the then struggling airline in late 2001, Tony and his management grew the airline which has now flown more than 85 million guests and linking cities across Asia Pacific. From a fleet of two aircraft, one destination and staff of 250, the AirAsia Group now operates a fleet of 85 aircraft, 113 routes to 60 destinations, and a staff of 7,000.

The airline has invested millions of dollars in quality improvement measures that include the running of its world-class training center, the AirAsia Academy, which implements trainings to ensure high quality service and supports new knowledge acquisition.

Tony was overjoyed to receive the recognition, thanked UTM for the honour and dedicated the moment to his staff and AirAsia's culture of innovation.

Tony said, "I would like to convey my utmost gratitude to UTM for the honour bestowed on me, in the conferring of this honorary doctorate. It is certainly a true honour when a highly respected institution like UTM affirms all the years of hard work and commitment of the team at AirAsia. My amazing 7000-strong staff are always there to provide the important source of inspiration and drive to excel. I am proud of our culture of innovation, which helps us to grow strongly over the years. Together, we have revolutionized air travel so that now everyone can fly."

With AirAsia, travelers are able to enjoy great flight frequencies and a route network that spans across the ASEAN region (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines), Australia, China, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Through low-cost long-haul affiliate AirAsia X, which Fernandes founded, AirAsia guests are also able to connect to more destinations in Australia, northern China, Taiwan and the UK.