Billionaire Richard Branson arrives in Zimbabwe on budget airline

Branson took a flight to Harare, with the airline sharing snaps of him disembarking and greeting officials on the ground.

“It was a pleasure having Richard Branson on-board a Fastjet flight. Honoured to have one of aviation’s top personalities flying with us. Thank you, Richard, See you soon,” the airline wrote.

Some praised Branson’s “humility” for taking the flight, while others said it was inspiration to current and future leaders.

Fastjet took to the skies in 2012 as “the world’s first pan-African low-cost carrier”. It was formed by Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of British’s easyJet, and Rubicon Diversified Investments after a deal to buy Africa-focused conglomerate Lonrho’s aviation business.

It flies between destinations in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, including Johannesburg, Maun, Harare, the Kruger Park, Victoria Falls, and Hwange National Park.

It is unclear where Branson was flying from but the airline offers flights into Harare from Bulawayo, Johannesburg, Victoria Falls, Kariba (Zimbabwe) and Hwange.

While he was flying into Southern Africa, Branson’s Virgin Galactic sent its first paying customers to the edge of space, a historic moment for the company.

According to Fortune, the around-one hour flight last Thursday reached space at about 5.30pm SA time and carried six people on board, including researchers from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy.