AirAsia was bought for one ringgit and turned into Southeast Asia's low-cost pioneer

AirAsia began in 1993 as a state-linked Malaysian carrier and was dying by 2000. On 5 September 2001 Tune Air — Tony Fernandes with partner Kamarudin Meranun — signed a purchase agreement to buy the 51.68 million shares (about 99%) held by DRB-Hicom for RM1 (USD 0.28), taking on around RM40 million of debt and two old planes, with some accounts putting the assumed liabilities far higher. Control formally changed hands on 8 December 2001, in the 9/11 downturn that had cut aircraft leasing prices nearly in half.

On 15 January 2002 the airline relaunched as 'low fares, no frills' — the region's first low-cost carrier — opening new routes to Penang and Kota Bharu. Fernandes applied the Ryanair and Southwest playbook: one aircraft type, point-to-point flying, ticketless booking (Asia's first paperless airline, April 2002) and internet sales from May 2002, with fares around half of Malaysia Airlines'.

Growth was explosive: two routes became ten and the fleet grew to five planes in the first years; Thailand and Indonesia followed in 2003-2004; the airline listed on the Kuala Lumpur exchange on 22 November 2004 and signed a 100-aircraft Airbus A320 order in December. By September 2005 it had carried 13 million passengers — and Southeast Asian travel had a new price level.

Profitable within a year, 13 million passengers by 2005, a 2004 IPO and a 100-plane Airbus order — the template for Southeast Asian low-cost travel

Buying in the downturn: 9/11 cratered aircraft values, so the entry price was near zero — RM1 plus debt for a licensed carrier whose real assets were slots and brand.

The LCC model fitted the geography: short-haul, price-sensitive, island-hopping markets rewarded frequency and low fares where flag carriers ran expensive hubs.

Tickets at half the incumbent's price expanded the market instead of just stealing it — the airline created the demand it then served.

A broken airline bought for pocket change can be rebuilt with a proven playbook and the right geography — but the real asset was the licence and slots, not the planes

AirAsia grew into a group spanning Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and India, with long-haul arm AirAsia X from 2007. The RM1 purchase of 2001 is now one of the most cited deals in Asian aviation history.