AirAsia's Tony Fernandes claimed that he had to take a flight on "rival" Singapore Airlines (SIA) on Dec. 5.

Apparently, there were no seats available on his own company's flights, he said in an Instagram post.

Likely took economy class

Fernandes, CEO of Capital A, the parent company of AirAsia, wrote on Instagram that he had "no seat on @flyairasia for three flights so had to take @singaporeair".

Fernandes shared a photo of himself on an airbridge, apparently right before boarding his Singapore Airlines flight.

Based on his second photograph, it appeared that Fernandes booked an economy-class seat.

Mixed reactions from Instagram users

Reactions from Instagram users to his post were mixed.

A fellow passenger claimed to be on the same flight as Fernandes, and commented, "Sat two rows behind you, nice to see you even though we didn't [make] any conversation."

One user praised Fernandes for flying with a competitor to "respect his customer bookings and not find a 'corporate' method to shuffle some passengers around".

Another commenter called Fernandes' post a "funny yet genius marketing strategic campaign".

Fernandes is apparently no stranger to controversy.

Just two months ago, he received flak after he posted on LinkedIn a topless photo while getting a massage during a work conference call.

The photo was later deleted.

You can view Fernandes' post here:

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tony Fernandes (@tonyfernandes)

Top image from tonyfernandes/Instagram.

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