News

VIRGIN Atlantic boss Sir Richard Branson has pledged to launch services Down Under via Hong Kong next summer.

The announcement comes after UK and Hong Kong authorities agreed to open up the market between the two destinations.

“Everyone at Virgin Atlantic has long wished for the airline to operate to Australia,” he said. “The deal means our ambition will soon become a reality.”

Virgin will fly daily from Heathrow to Sydney, allowing passengers to transfer to other major cities on Branson’s Australian low-cost operation Virgin Blue.

Branson said he would eventually operate the new ‘super-jumbo’ Airbus A380 on the route. It will begin with an A340.