The brand AirAsia made its true arrival when it was reborn in 2001 as a new acquisition by Tune Air Sdn Bhd, a company jointly founded by Dato’ Tony Fernandes, together with founding partners Dato’ Pahamin, Dato’ Kamarudin Meranun, and Abdul Aziz Bin Abu Bakar. The history of AirAsia may have started a few years earlier, but this is where the romance began.

AirAsia is a low-cost airline based here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It operates scheduled domestic and international flights and is Asia’s leading low fare, no frills airline. It is also the first airline in the region to implement fully ticketless travel and unassigned seats.

AirAsia has been expanding rapidly and is very popular among the travelling public thanks to its frequent low fare deals. The airline was established in 1993 and started operations on 18 November, 1996. It was originally founded by a government-owned conglomerate DRB-Hicom.

On the 2nd December, 2001, the heavily indebted airline was purchased by former Time Warner executive Tony Fernandes’s company Tune Air Sdn Bhd for the token sum of one ringgit. Fernandes proceeded to engineer a remarkable turnaround, turning a profit in 2002 and launching new routes from its hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport at breakneck speed. AirAsia has grown rapidly from operating only two Boeing 737-300s in 2001 to commanding a fleet of 62 aircraft today.

Recently, it has taken a delivery of 26 A320s and has 124 on order for delivery until 2013. AirAsia currently serves over 86 routes and operates in 10 countries. AirAsia’s financial performance in 2006 includes an increase of 27% in sales while market capitalisation was at RM 3,764 million.