Tony Fernandes went to the airport and the scene reminded him of the post-apocalyptic movie “I am Legend” starring Will Smith.

“There was not even one single soul there, but hundreds of airplanes were parked there. It was a time to either cry or take it as an opportunity,” he said during a Youth Economic Forum held though Facebook Live.

“We’ll survive as the vaccination programme has been rolled out. We are tough nuts,” he said, adding that AirAsia will continue to focus on digitalisation and continue being business friendly.

He said AirAsia managed its cash and retained as many staff as possible despite the challenging times.

“We really pivoted on digital transformation and created a super app, and created online logistics too,” he said.

AirAsia is also focusing on its Fintech arm, BigPay, and creating its agro food business.

BigPay offers financial services, including credit to B40 low-income and M40 middle-income groups.

He added that the digital world is going to change the way things are done. Due to that, AirAsia as an airline is talking more about Fintech.

Fernandes said there was immense energy from his staff. “We didn’t put our heads in the sand and cry.”

He is also optimistic that travelling may be allowed by August, first within the country, then regional and lastly AirAsia will focus on international destinations.

Fernandes said Covid-19 testing is likely to become faster as new methods of testing appear such as the breath analyser in Indonesia, while other countries look at armpit testing. This would help to open up borders faster and encourage travelling, he added.

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