British entrepreneur Richard Branson provided a closing flourish to the Farnborough Airshow by doubling the size of his Virgin America airline fleet by video link from the Caribbean on Thursday.

The founder of airline Virgin Atlantic announced an order for 40 Airbus A320 single-aisle jets worth $3.3 billion plus options for 20 more.

I am happy to celebrate my 60th birthday this week and I can't think of a better present than getting 60 new planes, Branson said during a link-up to the Farnborough Airshow from the Caribbean.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by James Regan)