Sir Richard Branson to take Virgin around the globe in 8 days

Low cost Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson, has set off on an epic 8-day journey around the world to coincide with the launch of V Australia, the newest airline in the Virgin stable.

Sir Richard is travelling London-Hong Kong-Sydney-Los Angeles-London in 8 days, a far cry from the days of Phileas Fogg in Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 days in a balloon. Along the journey, Sir Richard will be meeting with local entrepreneurs and listening to their experiences of coping during the recession

V Australia, which launches on tomorrow, will initially fly between Sydney and Los Angeles, with services also planned between Brisbane and Los Angeles, and Melbourne and Los Angeles. Its launch means that passengers can book to travel on individual Virgin airlines on an around-the-world routing. 

V Australia joins the family of Virgin airlines which includes Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Blue, Virgin America and Virgin Nigeria.

''Travelling around the world in 8 days is going to be a pretty tough quest but we'll certainly be doing it faster than Phileas Fogg did in his balloon," Sir Richard said."The launch of V Australia joins up Sydney and LA, destinations currently served by Virgin Atlantic from London and it means consumers can travel on Virgin globally for the first time. It's a unique moment in Virgin's history.''

Sir Richard will also be on the search for the best Richard look-a-like, as part of a global competition to celebrate Virgin Atlantic's 25th birthday.

Those who bear an uncanny resemblance to the Virgin Atlantic President and need more information about the competition can visit Virgin Atlantic's Facebook page www.facebook.com/virginatlantic and simply upload their picture.

The best look-a-like will win two Virgin Atlantic return tickets in Premium Economy and two VIP tickets to Virgin Atlantic's exclusive 25th birthday party in New York.