Sir Richard Branson bites back in Virgin Atlantic spat with British Airways rival 

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Sir Richard Branson has hit back at taunts from British Airways boss Willie Walsh over the demise of Virgin’s Atlantic’s domestic UK carrier, and advised him to put on a pair of his ‘strongest trousers’.

The billionaire tycoon yesterday described Virgin Atlantic as a ‘better known’ and ‘more respected’ global brand than British Airways which would be around for another 40 years.

He jokingly referred to an infamous bet made by Walsh, boss of British Airways’ parent company International Consolidated Airlines Group, when US airline Delta purchased a 49 per cent stake in Virgin Atlantic in 2012.

Walsh bet his rival a ‘knee in the groin’ that Virgin Atlantic would disappear within several years and claimed Delta called the shots.

Speaking in Atlanta following the inaugural flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Heathrow to the US city, Branson said: ‘It’s quite flattering that Willie Walsh spends so much time talking about his smaller competitor.

‘Two and a half years ago, when we signed up with Delta, he said he wanted to lay down a challenge which was a kick in the groin that the brand would not exist five years after signing. We’ve now got just two and a half years to run.

‘So all I’d say is that he ought to be testing his strongest trousers he can find to protect his...well you know what he’s called.’

The light comments underline a long running feud between the rivals which flared up again earlier this month when Virgin announced it would close the Little Red UK flight network next year.

Just before Virgin pulled the plug on Little Red, Walsh declared he was ‘delighted’ the domestic airline had been struggling to fill flights and that his prediction the venture would flop were proved correct.