Virgin boss, Sir Richard Branson, has said it is likely that Virgin Atlantic will be seeking compensation from Boeing after yet more delivery delays on the 787 Dreamliner. Speaking in Sydney, where he was announcing the rebranding of Virgin Blue as Virgin Australia, Sir Richard said the constant delays had been a nightmare and that unfortunately the airline would be talking to the manufacturer about compensation for those delays.

Last month, Boeing said the first Dreamliners would be in service by the third quarter. Virgin Atlantic has 15 planes on order in a deal which is estimated to be worth $2.74 billion. Delivery of the fuel efficient jets has been hampered by a series of problems with production, design and flight testing.

According to Jim McNerney, chairman and chief executive at Boeing, the delivery schedule is unlikely to be affected by work which is currently being done on the aircraft. He said that testing on the aircraft fitted with Rolls-Royce engines was 95 per cent complete and testing on those fitted with General Electric engines was 75 per cent complete.

When asked about the death of Osama bin Laden, Sir Richard said it was a relief considering how many deaths the Al Qaeda leader had been responsible for. He added that he was sure there were still idiots who might try to do something, but that the airline industry was securer than most.

Commenting on the current price of oil, Sir Richard said he thought it would drop in the short term but could well rise again in the future.