KUALA LUMPUR — Lucky passengers on a recent AirAsia flight from Kuala Lumpur (KL) to Singapore were treated to a free mini concert in the skies by none other than the inimitable David Foster and Friends.

Travelling to Singapore for their sold-out concert at The Star Performing Arts Centre last Tuesday (Aug 8) after performing in Bangkok and KL, the star-studded cast comprised Canadian musician Foster, and American singers Michael Bolton, Peabo Bryson, Katharine McPhee and Loren Allred.

Also joining them for the KL and Singapore shows was Malaysian songstress Siti Nurhaliza and Hong Kong-based singer-songwriter Andrea Hosking, better known as Andreah.

And for the AirAsia show? Ariel Fesol — whom Malaysians might remember as young Arill from the second season of Idola Kecil (or "Little Idol"), a children's singing competition in Malaysia.

Back in 2009, then-11-year-old Ariel was a crowd favourite and a regular at the top of the show's weekly rankings. It appears that he is now a flight attendant with AirAsia and, as luck would have it, happened to be staffing the very same flight as Foster and his friends. 

In a video posted by AirAsia flight attendant Victor Wong on Instagram last Wednesday Foster uses the cabin crew's interphone to introduce himself to the passengers on the flight.

He then pulls the wired phone down the aisle, holding it out to each of the performers as they sing short lines of classic hits, including Bolton's When a Man Loves a Woman, Bryson's A Whole New World and Allred's Never Enough.

Foster later makes his way down the aisle to greet all the passengers.

In a separate clip, Siti also stands up front to perform a rendition of her well-loved single Aku Cinta Padamu. Throughout the video, passengers and crew can both be heard singing along.

The "mic" was then passed onto Mr Fesol who sang How Am I Supposed To Live Without You — a dedication to Bolton as Mr Fesol's mother is "such a huge fan", Mr Wong wrote.

Videos of the mid-air performance were also posted on TikTok, with Mr Wong's video reposted on AirAsia's official account.

One video by TikTok user "sara_cpl", who appears to have been one of the flight attendants on the flight, has received 65,600 views and 2,500 likes since it was posted last Thursday.

In her caption, she called it a "surreal experience getting to work with and meet these legends", adding that Foster had even patted her on the shoulder and thanked her.

Online users have responded with awe at how "lucky" the passengers and crew on the flight were, as well as praise for the singers' lively and friendly attitudes to everyone in the economy class, where they were seated.

"Imagine getting on a plane and Michael Bolton, Peabo Bryson, Siti Nurhaliza, David Foster, Katherine McPhee and Loren Allred casually walk in," one person commented on TikTok.

"Business class who?! We only know star-studded economy class," joked another.

Allred also commented under Mr Wong's Instagram video, calling him the "best flight attendant of all time".

But it seems Mr Fesol was the real show-stopper, with the full video of his performance on his TikTok account receiving 686,400 views, 37,100 likes and 421 comments.

Referring to it as "a once-in-a-lifetime experience", he gave thanks to Allah for the good fortune of being on the same flight as the international stars.

TikTok users complimented his voice, expressing joy that they had found him after all these years and calling for him to make a return to the stage.

"Long time no see," read one top comment in Malay. "Next year you can go on the big stage."

Others reminisced about watching him on Idola Kecil back in the day, saying they "remembered him crying because he missed his bantal busuk", referring to a child's safety item which could be anything from a small pillow to a blanket or stuffed toy — more commonly known in Singapore as a "chou chou".

Another top comment asked, humorously: "Bang, why is the sound (so) clear on the speaker when singing? But the usual announcement is 'bzz bzzzz bzzz, thank you for flying with AirAsia' 😔".

Mr Fesol doesn't seem to be the only talented one in AirAsia's fold, as just last month, another unnamed flight attendant went viral for entertaining passengers with a rendition of Ed Sheeran's Perfect to fill the lack of in-flight entertainment.