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Like A Virgin (pin-up): Kate Moss dresses up in a red playsuit as she joins Branson for Virgin Atlantic’s 25th birthday
Supermodel Kate Moss kicked off Virgin Atlantic’s 25th birthday celebrations by dressing as one of the airline’s flying pin-up girls.
Flashing her long legs in a red, strapless playsuit and Yves Saint Laurent Tribute platform heels, Kate jumped into the arms of a willing Sir Richard Branson as they posed on the wing of a Virgin jumbo.
The 35-year-old was aping the dress sense of the Virgin ‘Flying Girls’, who are painted on the side of the fleet in the style of Alberto Vargas’s pin-ups in the 1940s.
Kate followed in the unlikely footsteps of Pamela Anderson, who also dressed in a similar red playsuit for Virgin’s 21st birthday.
After their photoshoot this morning, Branson and Moss boarded the plane, entitled Birthday Girl, to recreate the airline’s inaugural flight from Heathrow to New York City.
On board today’s special VIP ‘birthday flight’ were international cricketer Kevin Pietersen, Sir Ian Botham and entertainer Christopher Biggins, who was a passenger on the very first Virgin Atlantic flight 25 years ago on June 22nd 1984.
Speaking before take-off, Sir Richard predicted that the recession would kill off first-class travel.
About an hour before departure, he posed in a captain’s uniform with Kate before being joined for the wing walk by his daughter Holly and his son Sam.
Sir Richard said the last 12 months in aviation had been ‘the most volatile in our 25-year history’.
He believed Virgin Atlantic would survive the downturn but suspected that first-class travel across all airlines would ‘disappear for good’.
Recent official figures have shown a massive slump in first and business class travel. As a result there is a vicious price war for business class customers. A return ticket to New York with Virgin Atlantic today costs ?1,098, compared with ?1,049 with American Airline United, and ?1,099 with Virgin’s arch-rivals British Airways.
Sir Richard, whose airline offers an ‘Upper Class’ premium service, said to sit between business and first, commented: ‘We have heard that our principal rivals are looking to get rid of first-class all together. And it’s high time. Who wants to spend ?8,000-9,000 on a first-class ticket when they can fly with us for less than half that.
‘I suspect first-class travel will disappear during this recession.’
Sir Richard, who has urged the government not to bail out ailing British Airways said his own airline was ‘doing better than most’ during the downturn.
‘This year is going to be tough for everybody. But it’s a fantastic time for passengers. I suspect they are getting the same sort of prices they were getting 25 years ago.’
When Virgin launched in 1984, a flight to New York cost ?119, compared with ?103 today. A Ford Fiesta was ?4,704 compared with ?9,995 today but a Motorola mobile phone, then a novelty cost a whopping ?1,750 compared to just ?9.50 today. The average house price in 1984 was ?32,751 compared with ?172,622 today.
Sir Richard said: ‘After looking in to price comparisons on typical goods we all buy, we realised that the fares we charged on flights to New York are nearly the same as 1984 when we started the airline.
‘I am so proud of what we have achieved in the last 25 years. It is a tribute to our staff.’
Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway said: ‘Today’s milestone is a huge accomplishment for Virgin Atlantic.’
Prime Minister Gordon Brown also sent a special birthday message praising the competition Virgin Atlantic had injected in to the market: ‘People can now afford to fly to places they previously only dreams of.
‘Aviation underpins our economic well-being. Virgin Atlantic is now also at the forefront of developing new technologies to meet the challenge of climate change. May this pioneering spirit continue throughout your second quarter century.’
Today’s special flight is under the command of Captain Geoff Andreason, Virgin Atlantic’s chief Boeing pilot.
source: dailymail.co.uk
