Hannah Dowling

The Australian dad-of-three lined up to take a seat on a future Virgin Galactic flight into suborbital space has revealed how he won this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Talking to Australian Aviation, Gerry Geltch said, “He was my staff member, he was my priority. I think when you’re a father, you just think about if it were your kids. It just is what it is and you do what you have to do.”

Sir Richard blasted off to the edge of space on his Virgin Galactic space-plane on Sunday, in the company’s 22nd successful spaceflight, and fourth crewed flight to space.

The border closure, which saw all of NSW and ACT become a ‘red zone’ under Victoria’s permit system, came into effect from 11:59pm on Sunday night.

From 10am Monday, New Zealanders trapped in Sydney’s lockdown will be able to book seats on repatriation flights to Auckland and Christchurch, with the first flight scheduled as soon as Tuesday 13 July.

In light of the news of the Grand Prix’s cancellation, AMDA Foundation – the organisers of AVALON – have confirmed the event will continue as planned, assuming public health advice in Victoria at that time does not impede.