AirAsia CEO teases APEC moderators for using Garuda

October 8, 2013 Leave a comment

AirAsia CEO teases APEC moderators for using Garuda

Satria Sambijantoro, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua,Bali | Business | Mon, October 07 2013, 10:37 AM

AirAsia Group’s CEO, Tony Fernandes, became the center of attention and drew in much laughter when he spoke as one of the panelists during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali on Monday. Fernandes was given time to speak by moderator Pieter Gontha, the publisher of BeritaSatu Media Holdings, on the issues of connectivity in the Asia Pacific region, but the Malaysian-born entrepreneur was initially hesitant to present his answers because he knew that the man asking him questions rarely boarded his plane. “Just to let you all to know, Pieter Gontha uses my competitors, Garuda [Indonesia] and Citilink, so please discount 50 percent of his questions,” Tony said, to which business executives in attendance responded with laughter.The AirAsia CEO, who described himself as a “dangdut king” in the discussion, also made fun of Foxconn chairman Terry Gou and DHL chairman Frank Appel, who also become speakers.

“Do you have iPad giveaways in Garuda?” Tony joked, referring to one of the products composed by Foxconn, which is the world’s largest electronic device manufacturer.

“We are much cheaper than DHL, so use AirAsia Argo,” he said, with DHL’s Appel seen giggling upon hearing Tony’s jokes.

The AirAsia executive was known for his comical personality, once inviting English business magnate Sir Richard Branson to dress as a female stewardess in one of Air Asia’s flights. Branson willingly did so after he lost a wager with the Malaysian executive, betting that his Formula One racing team Virgin would finish ahead of Tony’s Lotus.

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