In the Inquire Business report 0n 7-8-2011 quoted Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and his partner to have said in a joint statement that
“As the major shareholders of AirAsia Bhd and AirAsia X Sdn Bhd (which operates long-haul budget flights), we are committed to increasing shareholder value in both our core investments by continuously exploring various opportunities to enhance our franchise,” in HERE. The emphasis is mine. From this joint statement it was crystal clear that Khazanah Nasional Bhd, as the majority shareholder of MAS appeared to be very desperate to buy a franchise for these “special” brand names AirAsia and AirAsia X from Tan Sri Tony Fernandes and his business partners. With the pace and the way in which this so-called share swap was concluded with such utmost secrecy gave the impression to all Malaysians that Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, Mohammed Rashdan Yusof and especially YB Tan Sri Nor Yacob, the Minister of Finance II under PM Abdullah Badawi were TOTALLY unaware of the Malaysian business partners of Tan Sri Tony Fernandes’ lucrative aviation business.