This information came from an interview given by him, at the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva.
If true, it seems a strange platform on which to announce it. Richard Branson is of course the master of a
PR campaign, and it seems totally out of character for him to slip out a piece of information at such a venue and in such a way.
TAM and GOL have got most of the domestic traffic stitched up anyway, haven't they? As PAXboy points out, it's hardly the best time for a start-up.