Tony Fernandes flies SQ because AirAsia sold out. Is that the real reason, though?

AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes posted on Instagram a photo of himself standing on an aerobridge leading to a Singapore Airlines plane.

The 59-year-old wrote that he "had to" take Singapore Airlines because all the seats on AirAsia flights were taken. He even tagged the Singapore carrier in his post.

A netizen lauded his move, commenting that it was "so refreshing to see the CEO of a private airline respect his customer bookings and not find a 'corporate' method to shuffle some passengers around".

But there were also netizens who jested that it must had felt like an upgrade for Mr Fernandes, who also shared a photo taken from his economy seat.

Some netizens took the opportunity to throw shade at Mr Fernandes' budget airline.

"LOL you had to take @singaporeair because of the seat quality given on your own company @flyairasia."

"Good choice, now you won't miss your flight!"

"Don't lie, Tony. Even you don't wanna fly AirAsia."