Virgin Atlantic open to buying into Indian carriers: Sir Richard Branson

NEW DELHI: Virgin Group owner British billionaire Sir Richard Branson, who landed in India Thursday for launching new flights connecting Indian with the UK and the US, wants to keep his eyes open to investment opportunities in Indian airlines.

"Now foreign companies have been allowed to pick up 49% so we are keeping our eyes open. It's a brave battle going on in the Indian aviation space now. Everybody is bleeding. There will be a right time and we will watch," Branson said at a prelaunch party at the Taj ManSingh hotel at New Delhi.

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A formal press conference will be held today in Mumbai. Commenting on the mess that Kingfisher Airlines is in, the owner of Virgin Atlantic airline also said that he feels bad for Vijay Mallya. "I feel bad for Mallya, he is fighting a tough battle. I heard his employees got paid some salary today so I think he's trying very hard."

Parallels have often been drawn between Vijay Mallya's flamboyance and Sir Richard's, where it has been conjectured that the Kingfisher Airlines owner tries to imitate the Virgin owner's style: right from hairdo, beard and dressing up to getting photographed with air hostesses.

Virgin Atlantic has had a bumpy relationship with India having withdrawn services from Mumbai in 2009 due to an economic downturn and had also threatened to withdraw the service from Delhi. The airline is resuming the Mumbai London flight and has started a new service between London-New York, which would help Indian passengers go onward to the US from London.

"When we were last here we did not have the right slots at Heathrow, we had a terrible time. But now we do. So now we can go seamlessly go through London and beyond," Branson said. Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, who started his first business venture at age 16 with a school magazine, now owns nearly 400 companies under the brand name Virgin.