Board a plane in Australia and be in the UK before finishing that second in-flight movie. Flying across the globe in less than three hours – that’s the future of travel as Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson sees it.
Speaking in Sydney this week, the entrepreneur said airlines have exhausted their options when it comes to enhancing the inflight experience.
That’s why they need to start looking at new avenues to make passengers happy and this could include faster and environmentally-friendly aircraft.
In his own words, it may not happen during his lifetime, but Branson is hoping his airline will one day fly Aussies to London within two to three hours.
“We do hope to one day fly Australia to London in two to three hours.”
Sir Richard Branson
“It will most likely happen in my children’s lifetime but I really like to think it will happen, and I think it will be in quite an environmentally friendly way.
“That’s going to be an exciting future.”
The technology used to speed-up aircraft would likely be a little expensive, but Branson said the environmentally-friendly planes would burn less fuel, which should keep fares reasonably priced.
“That will hopefully keep ticket prices down,” he said.
During his talk, Branson also congratulated Virgin Australia for raising the standards in the Australian domestic market and forcing Qantas to be more competitive.
One of Virgin’s more recent upgrades in the local market was the introduction of Business Class suites aboard its entire A330 fleet.
Dubbing it as a major game changer, the class gives travellers access to lie-flat beds, Luke Mangan-designed menus and premium wines when travelling almost anywhere across the country.
The only thing left for Virgin to fix, according to Branson, is red shoes for female flight attendants.
“I still want to get red shoes for Virgin Australia staff.”
Sir Richard Branson
“I’ll be pushing John [Borghetti] when I see him on the red shoes.”