KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia co-founder Tony Fernandes has praised Singapore Airlines for its service and in-flight internet connectivity, but criticised the quality of its food, saying AirAsia's Santan offering was better.
In an Instagram post after flying with Singapore Airlines, Fernandes said the overall flight experience was good, particularly the service and online connection.
However, he described the food as disappointing and said the airline's cabin crew had acknowledged that Santan, AirAsia's in-flight dining brand, offered better food.
Despite the criticism, he said the experience showed that AirAsia was not far behind Singapore Airlines in terms of overall flight experience.
"Just flew with Singapore Airline, couldn't get AirAsia, service was great, internet amazing, food was poor, Santan is far far better and crew admitted. Great flight but we are not far off," he posted.
In the post,Fernandes posted an inflight selfie with BBC News playing on the entertainment screen, as well as images of the food served.
His post drew the attention of netizens, particularly over their in-flight dining experiences.
User ejuemohdamin said food on AirAsia is the best.
"Been to 18 countries and tried quite a few different airlines, but honestly, nothing compares to Santan food. Seronok fly sambil makan-makan. Kita orang Malaysia ni memang suka makan sedap-sedap," she said.
Another user, nal_milu, said however that the food from AirAsia was not that fresh.
"Sorry...beg to differ...the nasi lemak I got from AirAsia was not so fresh and heated up, I can still see the sambal was literally brown... And the rice was not even pulpy and moist enough... it traumatised me forever to order food from airasia...alrdy la the seat won't be comfortable and any add ons will be chargeable," she said in the comment section of the post.
