AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes today likened the pain he felt when he had a kidney stone to the pain that his airline has caused to others.

It all started one night, he said, when he woke up feeling a sharp pain, which was later confirmed to be a kidney stone.

"And they gave me drugs to take the pain away and I was like, 'Wow, this is fantastic, this drug. Please give me more'.

"It is like the (Transport) Minister (Liow Tiong Lai), when he gives me a new (flight) route or does something great for AirAsia.

"We say, 'oh wow, minister, you're like a drug'," Fernandes said at an event in Sepang today, before showering praises on Liow for his proactive efforts to help the local aviation industry.

The airline mogul then continued his medical tale, saying how he eventually opted to get the kidney stone removed.

"I went for the spine (anaesthetic), because you never know someone from Malaysia Airlines Bhd might come to turn the extra (anaesthetic) gas (on) and put me to sleep forever.

"I wanted to stay awake," Fernandes said in jest.

The doctor then succeeded in removing the 3.8mm stone, which he said was coloured red, the main colour used by AirAsia in its branding.

"For all of you out there who have found AirAsia to be a painful airline to deal with, that's why the kidney stone was red as well.

"Because we never give up and we always fight to give the most."

It was not clear what he meant by this, but AirAsia had disrupted the aviation industry when it burst into the scene in 1996.

In other parts of his speech at the Sepang Aircraft Engineering hangar, Fernandes took playful jabs at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2)

He quipped how, when using his voice in the navigation app Waze, motorists arriving at KLIA2, would instead be told that they have arrived at the "LCCT" (Low Cost Transport Terminal).

Fernandes has, time and time again, spoken out against being made to move from LCCT to KLIA2.

He also poked fun at the soil depression problems faced in the new budget airline airport in its early stages, saying that AirAsia's new office in Sepang "won't sink to the ground".

Fernandes was speaking at the launch of AirAsia's new Airbus A320 Neo fleet, which began operations today.

The new aeroplanes promise to be more eco-friendly, improving fuel efficiency by 15 percent, which he said would also result in cheaper fares as well.