Sir Richard Branson, the founder and Chairman of the Virgin Group, has never made a secret of his desire to spread the Virgin brand.

Four airlines are linked to the Virgin brand: Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Blue, Virgin Nigeria and Virgin America. Australia's Virgin Blue is actually a collection of three additional airlines: Pacific Blue, Polynesian Blue and the new V Australia.

Because of foreign ownership rules, these airlines are independent entities united by brand only. There is no common frequent flyer program across all the airlines, no ability to book tickets across airlines and no codeshares.

Separate from one another, the airlines of the Virgin brand have significantly penetrated regional markets in Africa and Oceania. Following closely behind, Virgin America, though off to a rocky start, is expanding domestic service in the US. Virgin Atlantic, now almost a quarter century old, has a global network serving 34 cities on six continents.

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