Branson may scrutinise a SAA bailout

British billionaire Richard Branson said at the Business is an Adventure conference in Johannesburg that he would look at buying a stake in struggling national carrier South African Airways.

Branson owns airline Virgin Atlantic, as well as space tourism venture Virgin Galactic. He explained he was usually inclined to explore all options as captain of the Virgin ship.

“I have great difficulty saying no. I’m known as Dr Yes at Virgin, so if we were approached by the SA government, we’d definitely have a look,” he said.

“Whether it made sense for Virgin Atlantic to do something, then we’d obviously have to see.”

Branson expressed faith in the leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa.

“I feel more confident investing my money in SA with him than with the previous [leader].”

Business is an Adventure was hosted by Branson in partnership with Investec and Virgin Atlantic.

It was announced in July that Branson’s Virgin Galactic would merge with a New York-listed company to become the world’s first publicly traded space tourism venture.

“By embarking on this new chapter ... we can open space to more investors and in doing so, open space to thousands of new astronauts,” Branson said at the time.

Virgin Galactic and public-investment vehicle Social Capital Hedosophia will merge. Social Capital Hedosophia is expected to own up to 49% of the combined company.

“Virgin Galactic will be ... the first and only publicly traded commercial human spaceflight company,” it added.