The whirlwind publicity machine that is Sir Richard Branson has blown into Australia this week as Virgin prepares to launch its newest airline.

V Australia will connect Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with Los Angeles but, more importantly, it also completes Virgin’s global network.

Sir Richard is promoting this milestone by going around the world in eight days. He flew from London to Sydney on Virgin Atlantic and will travel from Sydney to Los Angeles on V Australia on Friday and then LA back to London on Virgin Atlantic.

There will be a lavish party on an island in Sydney Harbour to celebrate V Australia’s launch and another in LA when the plane lands.

As usual, Sir Richard’s presence has guaranteed huge media coverage and everywhere he has gone on this round-the-world trip there have been cameras flashing.

Sir Richard has also taken time out to promote his other ventures, including Virgin Active, the health clubs.

Sir Richard and his son Sam were coached by Ian Thorpe, the Olympic swimmer, in a race against the Australian swim team (who had their hands and feet bound) in a typically brilliant Branson publicity stunt.

I have been lucky enough to be part of Sir Richard’s entourage this week as he makes his round-the-world journey.

The parties, celebrity friends and general hoopla that accompanies Sir Richard have all been great fun but the billionaire entrepreneur is clear on the real achievement of this trip: Virgin is now the only airline in the world to offer a trans-global service.

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