Branson's belle too saucy for the Saudis

SIR Richard Branson rarely misses the chance to seize a route from his deadly rivals at British Airways.

But the billionaire's swoop for a landing spot in Saudi Arabia ran into trouble when Islamic fundamentalists objected to his planes' logo - a leggy model clutching a Union Flag.

The Virgin Atlantic boss had made his move after BA announced that, following a fall in business, it would drop the routes between London, Riyadh and Jeddah next month.

Saudi sources say Virgin Atlantic was the favoured option out of four rival airlines until officials in the kingdom noticed the provocative livery on the fuselage. 'We are talking about a country whose national airline blurs the pictures on the inflight films if the girls are showing any skin at all,' said a source.

'With the political situation so delicately balanced between pro-Western reformers and the hardline conservatives, the decadent symbolism would be too controversial and would have to be removed.'

But Sir Richard, who has a reputation for publicising his business activities with bikini-clad celebrities such as Pamela Anderson and boasting about the possibility of joining the 'mile-high club' in one of his in-flight double beds, decided to go elsewhere.

He is opting for a route into neighbouring Dubai, a Muslim country which takes a more tolerant approach to Western lifestyles. Virgin said: 'We did discuss taking the slot, but Richard has so much on that it was decided there was no need for us to fly into Saudi Arabia.'

Sources at BA say that the real reason for the closure of the route was the refusal of many flight crew to fly to Saudi Arabia following reports that terrorists were planning to shoot down Western planes.

The Saudi authorities are furious at BA for undoing their efforts to build a positive image of the country and Prince Andrew, the UK's representative for international trade, has said it will damage British business interests.