Billionaire Branson honours his bet

Branson (left) wearing an AirAsia stewardess uniform, shows his shaved leg, as AirAsia's chief executive Tony Fernandes looks on, during an AirAsia promotional event after Branson arrived at an airport in Sepang, outside Kuala Lumpur May 12, 2013. - Reuters pic

MELBOURNE, May 12 —Aviation billionaire Sir Richard Branson will touch down in Kuala Lumpur this afternoon wearing make-up, high heels and stockings to make good a bet he lost to AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandes at the Grand Prix two years ago.

He left Perth this morning on a charity fundraising flight to Kuala Lumpur, on which he trotted down the aisles in drag.

The Australian Associated Press reported that Branson dropped his pants at a bar in the Perth CBD on Saturday night, allowing AirAsia stewardesses to shave his legs.

There are reasons why it has taken him so long to honour his bet — he broke his leg; flying in a high-altitude hot air balloon and watching the second prototype of Virgin Galactic’s space-bound vehicle break the sound barrier.

“Yeah, it’s true. We both had Grand Prix teams and I was absolutely certain that I was going to win,” Branson was quoted by AAP as saying.

“Something went wrong. Of course the drivers of that race are no longer with us. I went to extreme lengths to avoid being here (for the charity flight), but knew that one day I had to get it over with.”

Meanwhile, Fernandes has been dared into his own promise, announcing he would become one of Virgin Galactic’s first commercial space tourists, taking a usually very expensive flight for a few moments of weightlessness.

“What he (Branson) doesn’t realise is once I go into space, there’ll be a low-cost version - AirAsia Galactica, about 10 per cent of the price he’s charging,” he said.

Funds from the flight will go to the Starlight Foundation for ill children. – Bernama