Last weekend, Team Lotus announced via a press statement that Fernandes, also owner of airline company AirAsia, has been awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire honor by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
According to the citation, the order was awarded “for services to promote commercial and educational links” between the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Besides owning AirAsia, Fernandes is also heading its low-cost sister AirAsiaX, through which it inaugurated a low-fare route between Kuala Lumpur (LCCT, Sepang) and London (Stansted) back in 2008.
“I'm grateful to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for the honor,” said Fernandes in a statement. “It is a recognition of the hard work, determination and effort on the part of all my partners, colleagues and staff in AirAsia, Tune Group and Team Lotus.”
“We have a terrific bunch of talented people working with us to make things happen in whatever venture we undertake. This is as much their award as it is mine.”
The Commander of the Order of the British Empire is the second important distinction Tony Fernandes has received in Europe in the past year, after being conferred the Officier of the Légion d’honneur award by the French government for his outstanding contributions to the aviation industry in 2010.
In addition, Fernandes was recently named "Asia Businessman of the Year 2010" by the international magazine Forbes.
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