'Stewardess' Richard Branson fired by AirAsia chief

British business tycoon Sir Richard Branson donned high heels and fishnet stockings as a stewardess in a figure-hugging scarlet outfit on a AirAsia flight from Perth to Kuala Lumpur, but was soon fired.

Wearing heavy make-up, the 62-year-old newsmaker was serving passengers as part of a Grand Prix bet with AirAsia chief executive Tony Fernandez set two years ago.

Branson and Fernandes had betted on which one of their Formula One racing teams would finish ahead of each other in their debut season of the 2010 Formula One Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi.

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The terms of the bet was that the loser would serve as a female flight attendant on board the winner's airline.

Fernandes' Team Lotus finished two spots above Branson's Marussia Virgin Racing team in the final rankings.

"Yeah, it's true. We both had Grand Prix teams and I was absolutely certain that I was going to win," Branson said.

"Something went wrong. Of course the drivers of that race are no longer with us. I went to extreme lengths to avoid being here, but knew that one day I had to get it over with," he said.

However, Branson made sure he got his revenge on Fernandes by purposely tipping a tray full of orange juice over the AirAsia boss.

Fernandes declared after the nearly six-hour flight that Branson's skills as an attendant were "rubbish" and that he was being immediately fired.

Fernandes, who described the Briton as his mentor, used to work for Branson before setting up his own budget airline.

But no sooner had Sir Richard made good with his pledge than Fernandez came good on his own promise, announcing he would become one of Virgin Galactic's first commercial space tourists.

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