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Richard Branson gets frosty over Alaska Air

Richard Branson
Richard Branson, pretends he’s an airplane on the runway after the arrival of Virgin Atlantic’s 787-9 Dreamliner jet from London. (Virgin Atlantic Photo)

British billionaire Richard Branson kicked off Virgin Atlantic’s nonstop service from London to Seattle today with a rhetorical kiss for the Emerald City, but also a verbal kick at Seattle-based Alaska Airlines, which is absorbing another one of the airlines he founded.

First, the kiss: Branson took a star turn on the tarmac after Flight 105’s arrival at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, surrounded by flight attendants bearing Union Jack umbrellas. Wearing blue jeans and a hometown Filson lumberjack jacket, he paid tribute to Seattle’s entrepreneurial bent.

“It’s a city after my own heart,” Branson told a crowd of VIPs and journalists assembled in the airport’s arrival hall. “Very entrepreneurial, some of the greatest entrepreneurs in the world live here.”

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Virgin founder brings London buzz to Seattle

Richard Branson
Virgin founder Richard Branson puts his feet up in advance of a “Business Is an Adventure” forum for entrepreneurs in Seattle. (Virgin Atlantic Photo)

Virgin Atlantic inaugurated its nonstop service between London and Seattle today with the glitz that’s typically associated with the airline’s billionaire founder, Richard Branson.

Flight 105 is due to land at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport a little after 3 p.m. today, almost 10 hours following its takeoff from London’s Heathrow Airport.

Among the passengers on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jet is British singer-songwriter Raye, and it’s clear from Twitter that she was part of the in-flight entertainment.

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