In the case study ‘AirAsia: The Sky’s the Limit’, the authors Ahmad and Neal (2006) discussed AirAsia’s comeback from a debt-laden scheduled airline (US$ 10.5 million in December 2001. The airline was bought by Tune Air for a token sum of one ringgit1 or 0.26 US cents) to a profitable low-cost or budget airline that managed to attract US$ 200 million in additional capital through its initial public offering in October 2004. AirAsia Berhad or Malaysia AirAsia (hereafter referred to as AirAsia) was credited for its efforts in enabling Malaysian people to travel by air to destinations in Southeast Asia at relatively low prices. AirAsia’s business model was a replication of Southwest Airlines’ low-cost model but was spruced with ‘local touches’ in terms of its marketing management practices. In December 2004, AirAsia formed a joint venture airline in
Ringgit is the Malaysian currency. It was pegged to the US dollar at the rate of 3.8 ringgit from September 1998 until July 2005. Since 21 July 2005, Malaysia allowed ringgit to