Sir Richard Branson is to embark on a global search for a lookalike this weekend, to celebrate the fact that passengers will be able to travel around the world using only Virgin carriers.
V Australia (the international arm of Australian carrier Virgin Blue, in which Virgin Atlantic is a shareholder ) will launch its Sydney to LA service on February 27, a move that will create the final link in a chain enabling passengers to fly around the world using Virgin carriers.
It’s not as pure a round-the-world product as Air New Zealand, which offers a London-Hong Kong-Auckland-Los Angeles-London routing all under the ANZ livery, but nonetheless Virgin passengers will soon be able to circumnavigate the globe using a mixture of “Virgin” airlines.
London-based travellers can begin their flight with Virgin Atlantic, flying to Sydney (via Hong Kong), where they will be able to pick up the new V Australia route to LA. From there passengers can either take a direct flight with Virgin Atlantic back to London, or fly with Virgin America to New York, before boarding a return flight with Virgin Atlantic to London.
V Australia had originally been due to launch in December, but the strike at Boeing’s Seattle factory meant delivery of its new aircraft could not be guaranteed (see online news October 5, 2008). To celebrate V Australia’s launch Sir Richard Branson is to set off on an eight-day round-the-world trip on Virgin-only airlines, in search of the best Richard lookalike in the world.
For more information visit vaustralia.com.au, virginblue.com.au, virgin-atlantic.com.
Report by Mark Caswell