New Virgin Atlantic plane tribute to Richard Branson’s mum who died of COVID

Virgin Atlantic has named one of its planes in honour of its founder Richard Branson’s mum, who died after battling COVID-19.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic has paid an emotional tribute to the billionaire’s mum who died this year after becoming sick with coronavirus.

The airline announced on Monday it would name two of its new A350 aircraft after pioneering women to coincide with International Women’s Day.

One of the planes would be named Fearless Lady after Sir Richard’s mother Eve Branson, a former glider pilot and flight attendant. She died in January at the age of 96 after contracting COVID-19.

The other would be named Lady Emmeline in tribute to women’s rights activist Emmeline Pankhurst, who helped women in the UK secure the right to vote in 1928.

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One of Virgin Atlantic’s new A350s will be named Lady Emmeline after British suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. Picture: Virgin Atlantic

The airline said charitable donations collected on board the Lady Emmeline will be distributed to women’s charities in honour of the suffragette hero.

“We’re delighted to be celebrating two fearless females this International Women’s Day,” Virgin Atlantic chief people officer Estelle Hollingsworth said.

“Having their names emblazoned on the side of our planes will act as a lasting reminder of their spirit and the determination to drive positive change that both of these exceptional women encompassed.”

In its announcement, Virgin Atlantic described Ms Branson as a “pioneer” and an “entrepreneur before the word existed”.

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Sir Richard Branson says he could never have founded the Virgin Group without the help of his mum Eve. Picture: Virgin Atlantic

“She enlisted in the Women’s Royal Naval Service during World War II, took gliding lessons disguised as a boy, and worked as cabin crew on the British South American Airways routes,” the airline said.

“More recently, she founded the Eve Branson Foundation, which works to improve the lives of women and girls in the Atlas Mountains [in North Africa], as well as providing education and health care to those in need.”

Ms Branson was famously whisked to safety by the actor Kate Winslet in a 2011 fire at Sir Richard’s private Necker Island, where they were both staying.

Winslet recalled how she carried Ms Branson, then aged 90, out of the mansion of the Caribbean island as a “wall of flames” moved fast towards them.

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new plane names. Picture: Virgin Atlantic

“God bless this stoic woman; she didn’t want to be carried,” Winslet said at the time.

“For the record Eve could absolutely have made it out on two feet but I had seen ­something that the others in my group hadn’t, which was the wall of flames heading rapidly our way.”

Sir Richard announced in January his mother had died with his sister Vanessa and nephew Louis by her side, after becoming ill with COVID-19.

“It feels so strange that the person who has always been there for us, with such zest for life, is gone,” the Virgin Group founder said in January.

I’m sorry to share that, sadly like a lot of people’s mums and dads right now in these days of Covid, my mum Eve has also passed away. Rather than mourn her loss, I wanted to celebrate her wonderful life & the joy she brought to so many https://t.co/i7rHAnBtBDpic.twitter.com/iDGASlAS0M

— Richard Branson (@richardbranson) January 11, 2021

He said his mum “held on for one last victory, managing to fight off the virus, but had expended all of her energy in the process”.

The billionaire businessman has credited Ms Branson with helping him launch his Virgin empire, as she gave him the £100 he needed to start the business in the 1960s.

He said the Virgin story began when Ms Branson found a necklace on the side of the road in Surrey and handed it in to police.

“After three months nobody had claimed it so the police told her she could keep it,” Sir Richard said.

“She came up to London, sold the necklace and gave me the money. Without that £100, I could never have started Virgin.”