SINGAPORE - Mr Lim Chin Beng, the founding managing director of Singapore Airlines (SIA) who steered the carrier through its early turbulent years with a calm demeanour and steady hand, died on Friday at the age of 90.

In a statement on Friday, SIA said it was saddened by his death and paid tribute to his immense contributions and mentorship.

Mr Lim served as the airline’s first managing director from 1972 to 1982, and then as deputy chairman from 1982 to 1996.

The airline said: “When SIA took off in 1972, the airline had to navigate many challenges before becoming an international carrier renowned globally for its service excellence and world-class products. Mr Lim’s visionary leadership and eye for detail helped to shape much of what the SIA brand is synonymous with today.”

It added: “Mr Lim will also be remembered for being a mentor to several generations of SIA employees, many of whom have gone on to hold senior leadership positions within the company. We are grateful for his immense contributions, both to the SIA Group and to Singapore.”

Mr Lim’s family said in a statement on Friday: “Dad unfortunately was battling dementia for the past five years, which kept him mostly at home. It is an uncompromising disease.

“We are glad that he led a fulfilling life, and we truly appreciate the support that he was given by everyone he had the honour of working with.”

Born in 1932, Mr Lim studied at Raffles Institution and the then University of Singapore. He had a 30-year career at SIA, where he started as an administrative trainee and worked his way to the top of the hierarchy.

Over the years, he assumed many more responsibilities, including sitting on the boards of numerous companies, such as the Singapore Tourism Board, CapitaLand and ST Engineering.

He was chairman of Singapore Press Holdings from 2002 to 2005. He also sat on the Public Service Commission.

He was recognised by The Business Times as Businessman of the Year in 1986. In 2007, he was conferred the Public Service Star.

SIA employees said his quiet, non-confrontational and affable style helped him achieve his goals for the airline, be they to negotiate air rights, deal with unhappy pilots or strike deals with aircraft suppliers.

Said Mr Karmjit Singh, the now-retired former assistant director for corporate affairs at SIA and later chief executive of Sats: “Mr Lim was a gentleman and an unassuming and understanding boss who was always approachable, regardless of rank.”

He added: “He provided outstanding leadership at a time of SIA’s rapid growth regionally and internationally. He had an exceptionally strong grasp of airline economics and airline finance, as well as complex commercial intricacies associated with negotiating international airline traffic rights. He will be missed by many pioneering generation staff who worked with the SIA family until his retirement.”

Mr Lim’s manner was a unique gift he carried with him through many other roles, including as Singapore’s ambassador to Japan – a position he served for two terms from 1991 to 1997.

It was during that time, in 1993, when then Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito was getting married to Ms Masako Owada, that Mr Lim’s quiet skills became a talking point within local diplomatic circles.

Realising that Singapore, unlike countries with royal families, could not present a gift to the royal couple as was the tradition, he approached Singapore’s Botanic Gardens and asked if one of its orchids could be named for the Princess. Through his Japanese contacts, he managed to have the Princess choose the orchid she wanted.

He was bestowed Japan’s highest civilian award, Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun, in 2004.

Mr Lim, who sometimes joked that his career had essentially been just a long “national service”, started his own budget carrier, Valuair, in 2004 in partnership with Malaysia’s Star Cruises and Asiatravel.com. The budget carrier, which was unique in offering some frills such as food and drinks, was bought by Qantas and merged with its subsidiary Jetstar group a few years later.

But it was at SIA, where he served with the airline’s legendary chairman J.Y. Pillay, that he carved out his reputation as a quiet achiever.

Said Mr S. Supramaniam, a retired former SIA senior public relations executive: “While Mr Pillay had an intense mission-focused manner about him, Mr Lim was more of a father figure type, very patient with us young executives and managers. Very smart, knowledgable and well respected by all.”

He added: “The airline was very fortunate to have these two great men at the helm during those very challenging and exciting early years.”

Mr Lim leaves his son Arthur, daughter Sharon and two grandchildren. His wife Winifred died in 2013.