Twitter is today the quickest way to spread a message to the world, and Tony Fernandes, CEO, AirAsia, uses this social-media network very effectively.

If you want to track Fernandes or are looking for any major announcements from the airline, check his Twitter messages, said an official of the airline who did not want to be named.

And that’s exactly what he has been doing, whether joining hands with the Tatas to launch a low-cost airline or on planning a Madurai-Kuala Lumpur service later this year.

His maiden visit to Chennai on Friday was a secret till the last minute. The company’s corporate communications team in the city kept denying his visit despite an invitation from a private college that said he was a guest of honour at a function.

And, on Friday morning, Fernandes confirmed his visit to Chennai through a Twitter message before boarding from Kuala Lumpur. He subsequently tweeted that he was also going to Kochi, Mumbai and Delhi.

Asked why he was making all his announcements through Twitter, and if this was part of a low-cost strategy, he said: “I get very good response from you [the media] guys on Twitter. Tatas went mad when I announced first in Twitter about the joint venture. Later they called me, hey, put this in Twitter. The first time, they thought we were crazy.”

Fernandes started Tweeting on December 7, 2008. His account shows that 3.37 lakh people follow him on this social network, and he has so far tweeted 8,467 messages.

>raja.simhan@thehindu.co.in

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