‘Earlier there was an issue about Elon Musk having an affair with the SEC, now Tony Fernandes is back. Many really want to 'chat' this week. '
AirAsia's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tony Fernandes, called on the government to act more 'boldly' and open up borders to help economic growth.
When interviewed by the BBC at the Singapore Airshow which took place in Singapore from 15 February to 18 February 2022, Tony Fernandes expressed his opinion that he wanted the border between the countries to be opened and allow tourism activities to resume.
According to him, cross-border tourism accounted for 12% of Southeast Asia's GDP in 2019 and for the past 2 years it has been badly affected by Covid-19, but it is time for economic activities to resume to protect the people's livelihood and economy.
He added that the move to close the border is no longer logical because Omicron is already in the community.
Data released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows only the Asia-Pacific region in the world failed to record any significant increase in air traffic by the end of 2021.
In comparison, Ryanair in Ireland managed to record a 3-fold increase in revenue year-on-year for the 3rd quarter of 2021.
Meanwhile, AirAsia recorded a three -fold decline for regions in the Asian region, although European and North American regions managed to record a rebound in 2021 following the relaxation of travel rules.
So far the neighboring country, Singapore has made tentative measures for less stringent travel via selected Vaccination Travel Lines (VTLs), which guarantee entry without quarantine but such flights are limited and more expensive.
There are also several other countries that use a similar scheme however it involves a lot of paperwork as well as various expensive Covid tests and a short mandatory quarantine period.
For Tony Fernandes in his argument, opening the border means no quarantine, no documents and no testing.
