AirAsia looks to win back trust after supporting ousted Malaysian leader

AirAsia Group will be looking to mend relations with customers and a new government after its boss Tony Fernandes backed ousted Malaysian leader Najib Razak, analysts and experts said. Veteran Mahathir Mohamad, 92, came out of retirement to lead the opposition Pakatan Harapan to a stunning victory last week over a ruling party he once led, defeating Najib, a former protege he accused of corruption. That spooked some investors in the budget carrier even as Fernandes Sunday apologised for endorsing Najib. Shares in AirAsia tumbled nearly 10% on Monday before closing down 5.4% in the first trading session since Wednesday’s election, as investors fretted over its relationship with a new government in Malaysia where it has the biggest domestic market share. However, Corrine Png, head of research firm Crucial Perspective, said she did not see any lasting demand to AirAsia’s brand from its links to Najib’s Barisan Nasional (BN) party. “There are simply too many BN-linked companies and consumers have long understood that businesses need political affiliations in Malaysia,” she said. Malaysia was second only to Russia on a “crony capitalism” index published two years ago by the Economist magazine. Fernandes said Sunday a video praising Najib was an effort to appease the government after he came under “intense” pressure in the lead-up to elections for adding extra flights on polling day and refusing to fire the chairman of long-haul arm AirAsia X Bhd, who had expressed support for Mahathir. The video apology on Facebook has been viewed more than 1.5m times and attracted more than 8,000 comments, in a sign of the attention Fernandes’ political stance has attracted in its home market.<br/>