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Sir Richard Branson



Sir Richard Branson

Sir Richard Branson
SIR RICHARD BRANSON
Record-setting Balloonist and
Aviation Entrepreneur
Sir Richard Branson was born in Guildford, England, on July 18, 1950. Dropping out of school in his teens, he began his career by starting a national magazine called Student.

In 1970, Branson initiated his Virgin Group of companies, earning a reputation for audacity and success. In 1984, he established Virgin Atlantic Airways, a highly competitive air carrier that has won Britain's Airline-of-the-Year award four times. Branson's Virgin Express operates Boeings 737s throughout Europe as a single-class, non-smoking airline, eliminating multiple ticketing structures with its simplified low-fare operation.

Branson has also engaged in record-setting balloon flights. He and world-renowned balloonist Per Lindstrand were first to fly the Atlantic in a hot-air balloon in 1990 and first to fly the Pacific in 1991. Commercially, Branson's Lightship Group operates internally illuminated airships for advertising and promotional venues in over 50 countries.

Branson has also applied aviation resources to humanitarian purposes. During the Gulf War, he used Virgin Atlantic Boeing 747s to supply refugees and also to evacuate foreign nationals from Baghdad. In 1997, Virgin took over London's emergency helicopter service, leasing the helicopter back to the city for free. Richard Branson was knighted by Queen Elizabeth the Second on March 30, 2000.
Elected to the International Aerospace Hall of Fame 2000