My great, great, great grandma Aria was from Cuddalore, reveals Richard Branson

Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways, revealed that lab tests have found that dating back to 1793, a part of his ancestral origins lie in Cuddalore, a city in Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday, December 11.

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Virgin Atlantic, the airline he founded 35 years ago, has decided to place a picture of his great, great, great grandmother Aria on their planes that connect Mumbai from London in honor of his Indian origins.

Branson told reporters here - "I knew that I had past generations living in India, but haven't realized how strong our connections were. So, it turned out that from 1793, we had four generations living here in Cuddalore and one of my great, great, great grandmothers was an Indian named Aria who was married to one of my great, great, great grandfathers."

He got a DNA done in the labs, which has revealed these results. The billionaire businessman who has a hand in many businesses like space tourism etc. told reporters that his family has managed to snag an ancient grainy picture of Aria, who was Indian, and his airline will use it as a 'flying icon'.

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He joked that he tells every Indian he meets that they might be related. Virgin Atlantic, for the third time, has restarted a daily carrier plane connecting Mumbai with London in October this year.

Branson has told a reputable news agency that the route was not a wise one to take previously in terms of profit and was called off rather than burning millions of pounds by continuing with the route. He also mentioned that it is one of the reasons why Virgin Atlantic has continued to thrive in the competitive harsh aviation market.

As passenger traffic in the sector has grown 25 percent in the last five years, while seat capacity has gone down by 40 percent, a senior company executive hinted at the opportunity that exists and told news agencies that the company is confident of success in increased connectivity.

The executive said the airline is eyeing another opportunity in the Manchester-India route, which was being carried out by Jet Airways before it broke down in April. He said the airline is definitely considering a Manchester-India flight next.

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The executive added that the Virgin Group is also looking to expand capacity at Heathrow airport and also looking to partner with a domestic airline to help carry international passengers after the void created due to the bursting of its earlier partner Jet Airways.

(With Inputs from PTI)