Virgin passenger's legendary letter to Branson tops 2009 traveller complaint stories

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Rare still captures Richard Branson nude & alone ©

Personally, we only found the letter mildly entertaining, but evidently we were in the minority.  Passenger Oliver Beale's complaint (accompanied by disturbing photos) about the alleged "meal" Virgin Airlines purported to serve him on a flight from Mumbai to London made headlines worldwide when it became public in January 2009. Virgin brand impresario Richard Branson himself claimed to see the funny side, even inviting the author to consult to Virgin on its inflight menu.  No surprise, therefore, it's topped the list of most read traveller complaint stories in The Sydney Morning Herald's 'Traveller' section for 2009.

The story of Beale's complaint letter and the attention it got can be found here. The full text of the letter itself is also here. Want the full top 10 most read 'Traveller' section stories list? Again, we've got you covered.

(Or, you could spend the next 30 years of your life trying to search the Herald website for them yourself. See our story on that painful subject here.)