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Virgin Australia boss opens new terminal facilities in Brisbane

Xinhua, September 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

International business icon and Virgin founder Richard Branson walked the red carpet to officially open new facilities at Brisbane's domestic airport on Wednesday.

Fresh off the plane from Sydney, Branson opened Virgin Australia's new terminal facilities - a lounge and terminal upgrades.

Virgin Australia's latest move came after rival Qantas last month announced it would build a new domestic airport lounge and renovate its existing international lounge in Brisbane.

Branson on Tuesday told Fairfax Media the Virgin Group was pleased with Virgin Australia's performance in executing its strategy of moving upmarket to take on Qantas.

"If Virgin Australia didn't exist, Qantas would be as bad as it was five years ago," Branson said.

"But Virgin Australia coming in and innovating has meant Qantas has had to react. The Australian public have definitely benefited all around I think from that."

Branson dismissed rumors the Virgin Group would sell it's 10 percent stake in Virgin Australia after having sold two large portions of shares to Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways in 2013. Endi