Everything You Need To Know

It’s a startup with a business model that has everyone talking. A carrier pinning its hopes on unwanted Airbus A380s deemed too inefficient for other airlines to operate. Founded in 2021, Global Airlines has been working hard over the past three years to acquire aircraft and attain all the required certifications.

While skeptics at every stage have expressed their doubts, the UK firm continues to push ahead. Indeed, in just the past few months, it has taken some very tangible steps towards launching revenue services. Today, we take a deep dive into the concept and vision of Global Airlines and the progress it has made thus far.

The man behind the vision

According to the company’s website, Global Airlines was founded in 2021. The visionary at the helm is travel personality and serial entrepreneur, James Asquith, the son of a professional pilot and a flight attendant. While he may have perhaps had a stable upbringing with a private school education, an interview with The Times reveals that Asquith’s parents worked hard to provide that quality education. “Other people’s parents would drive amazing cars, BMWs and Mercedes, and we were arriving in a banged-up Skoda,” he told the media outlet.

With an interest in business and finance, Asquith would get a significant boost in wealth during his time as a university student. He told The Times,

Photo: James Asquith | Instagram

After continuing to build his career in finance all the while traveling the world, Asquith would go on to create an app called Holiday Swap in 2017. The app allows users to swap homes while traveling and has been instrumental in building Asquith’s wealth. The Holiday Swap Group, including the app, is now valued at over $400 million.

An airline based on the Airbus A380

It’s true that startup airlines around the world come in all shapes and sizes. Just to give you an idea of the huge spectrum among recent entrants, we have Iceland’s PLAY on one end offering low-cost transatlantic services to, from, and through Keflavik airport. The airline started with three A321neos in its first year, all fitted with a high-density single-class. At the other end, there’s newcomer Beond, which started off with a single Airbus A319 fitted with an all-premium configuration. This carrier aims to comfortably carry leisure travelers from cities like Dubai, Milan, Munich, Riyadh and Zurich, to the Maldives.

Global Airlines is doing something drastically different as a new airline: operating as an all-A380 carrier with a hub in London, with early marketing material suggesting Gatwick Airport as its home base. This might sound vaguely similar to the operations of airlines like British Airways and Emirates. Of course, the key difference is that Global Airlines is looking to launch operations at this scale right away, rather than through decades of growth.

The airline announced the “acquisition” of its first A380 at the end of May 2023, and a month later, said that it was moving ahead with the purchase of three more A380s. In retrospect, these announcements are quite interesting and must have only been ‘partial acquisitions’ as the first “full acquisition” was only announced at the start of 2024.

Nonetheless, at the end of September 2023, Global Airlines announced that it had signed an agreement with wet-lease outfit Hi Fly to work together on the development and maintenance of the four A380 aircraft the new airline has agreed to acquire. Hi Fly, the first airline to operate the A380 in the secondary market, clearly already has experience with the aircraft type and is in a good position to advise Global on operations with the superjumbo.

What Global Airlines will offer on the inside

With Asquith having traveled all over the world over the past two decades, he has developed a fairly good idea of what makes a positive airline experience – as well as all the things that quickly become pain points. “Global Airlines sets out to right these wrongs,” the company’s website states. Adding that it all starts with an “obsessive focus on outstanding customer experience.”

Also straight from Global Airlines’ website, the company says the following:

“We are revolutionizing commercial flying. We’ve all suffered for far too long with long security queues, late flights, lost luggage, inedible food and constant poor customer service. Global Airlines offers fast relief from the aches and pains associated with commercial air travel. We bring joy at every interaction and delight at every touch point. Take a deep breath, welcome aboard.

“Whether you are flying for business or leisure, Global Airlines do things differently. From catering and customer relations through to scheduling and ground operations. Simply put we are unconstrained by the usual aviation paradigms.”

There’s still a way to go before we see the actual onboard product, but early marketing material seemed to promise a lot.

As noted by One Mile At A Time in 2022, there were initially five classes onboard the aircraft. Early concepts saw four 50-inch-wide fully enclosed suites, each complete with a private lavatory. Alongside business class, premium economy, and economy classes, there was to be a 5th cabin known as “Gamer class.” This would have allowed passengers to pay a premium to “play Xbox and PS5 both individually and between other passengers in the cabin.” Early renderings show futuristic-looking pods with seating similar to long-haul premium economy. These pods would have had large television screens suspended in front of the passenger. This old marketing material stated, “we are in advanced discussions with RECARO & Microsoft for the cabin, just 15 seats in 1-3-1, where players can use multiplayer.”

Photo: Global Airlines

This material is no longer available on Global Airlines’ website, and we now only see three classes: First, business, and economy. The descriptions for these classes are now much more vague, spouting non-specific industry catchphrases such as “exquisite amenities,” “unparalleled convenience,” and “attentive service.” Were the first class suites with private bathrooms killed off, along with Gamer class? It’s unclear.

While we don’t know for sure, it would appear on the surface that the airline’s leadership has come to the realization that such lofty goals will come with too hefty a price tag (and maybe even extended timelines) – factors that would hamper the launch of operations. We’d be happy to be proven wrong, of course, as such novel products would be interesting to experience – or at least report on.

Much more recently, in December 2023, Global announced that it had selected London-based firm Factorydesign to design its cabins. The firm is no stranger to the aviation world and has already produced the following products:

• Delta Air Line’s Delta One Suites onboard the A330-900
• Singapore Airlines’ lie-flat business class seat on its 737 MAX aircraft
• Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A350 Upper Class Loft
• Some of Etihad’s highest-end products, including The Residence

While factorydesign will draw up the concepts, Lithuanian firm JETMS has been appointed to bring the designs to life.

Photo: Delta Air Lines

Continuing to make tangible progress towards launch

The airline and its all-A380 fleet and full-service concept have attracted many skeptics. Some point to a saturated transatlantic market, while others will point to the astronomical operation and maintenance costs associated with the superjumbo. Despite all the criticisms, Global Airlines continues to push ahead and prove the old saying, “where there’s a will, there’s a way”.

On February 2, 2024, the airline announced that it had “fully acquired” the A380 with MSN 120, previously operated by China Southern. Now re-registered as 9H-GLOBL, the jet took off for its first ‘reactivated test flight’ from Mojave Air and Space Port on the morning of February 15th.

So that’s the latest with Global Airlines. In the past two or three years, we can see the airline refining its concept and vision while making clear steps toward acquiring aircraft. Inaugural transatlantic flights were initially expected to take place in the Spring of 2024. While there’s technically still time, we’ll have to wait and see if this target can still be met. We look forward to reporting on subsequent ‘full acquisitions’ and the release of a flight schedule in the months ahead.

What do you think of Global Airlines and its business model? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.