From Richard Branson to Elon Musk, powerful men have long been launching themselves into the skies.
But Global Airlines, founded by 36-year-old British multimillionaire James Asquith, has found itself grounded after just two return flights.
The new UK carrier made its maiden journey on May 19, departing from Glasgow Airport in Scotland for New York’s JFK, with a return flight four days later.
A second journey from Manchester Airport to New York took place on May 21 and returned on May 25.
Global pledged to take passengers back to the ‘Golden Age’ of travel, delivering premium service on the world’s largest passenger plane: the double-decker A380.
But even before take-off, the plan was on shaky ground.
Sign up to The Getaway newsletter
Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here.
Initially, return economy fares were £778, 95% more expensive than a comparative a standard £399 British Airways seat. However, sluggish sales saw those prices more than halved.
And now, Global’s only plane, 9H-GLOBL, is currently parked up in Tarbes Airport in France. Home to the largest aircraft storage facility in Europe, it’s typically used for long-term storage.
Tarbes also serves as an aircraft recycling centre, the place where aircraft go ‘when the time comes’, according to Simple Flying.
Global Airlines shared the news on Instagram, but insisted it ‘won’t be long before [the plane] is up in the clouds once again on the way to the next adventure.’
A statement said: ‘After completing the latest maintenance in Dresden, 9H-GLOBL will be heading to Tarbes to park until it is time to head off to the next stage of heavy maintenance.’
From the beginning, Global Airlines has raised eyebrows among aviation insiders, who questioned whether its business model — using big, old, expensive A380s — is sustainable.
And the latest news is only adding to the skepticism.
So — as its only plane is parked up for the foreseeable, what’s Global Airlines all about, and will they fly again?
What does Global Airlines say?
Metro approached Global Airlines, and a spokesperson stressed that the carrier is very much alive and well.
‘The aircraft has not gone to storage,’ they said.
‘It’s just parking in Tarbes. We know the people there well, and it was the perfect place for us to stop off until the next hangar slot is ready for us.’
Global says that people have chosen to ‘leap to conclusions and got it very wrong.’
The spokesperson added: ‘There really isn’t anything to see here – an aircraft needs to park somewhere and Tarbes has a lot of experience looking after A380’s so it makes it the perfect place for now.’
While it’s unclear what its next steps will be, Global said: ‘The plans remain for the aircraft to get the next round of maintenance done and then move on to the next round of operations in due course.
‘Meanwhile, various other matters are progressing behind the scenes, and we continue to move ahead with the Global journey.’
When asked for specifics on what this plan might be, Global did not respond.
The expert view
Overall, aviation experts aren’t convinced.
The crux of the issue? Global’s business plan is based on using a particular type of aircraft: the Airbus A380, the largest commercial passenger aircraft.
These massive, double-decker planes are no longer being made; there are now less than 200 in circulation, after being discontinued in 2021. Today, Emirates remains the largest carrier of A380s.
But across the board, they fell out of favour due to running costs.
‘The A380 is a massive plane, with four engines, and space for lots of different classes,’ Marina Efthymiou, Aviation expert and professor of aviation management at Dublin City University, tells Metro.
‘Starting an airline is already incredibly expensive: you need to buy the planes, find the staff, and get your air operator’s certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority, which can cost hundreds of thousands.’
Which begs the question, why does James think he can build a business on these planes?
Metro readers react to Global Airlines
While some Metro readers welcome the idea of travel being more comfortable for the masses, others have stated that it won’t work. Or if it does, it’s only a matter of time until money becomes an issue.
You can read their thoughts here.
And that’s where the industry is stumped.
The entrepreneur told The Independent that the A380s are actually Global’s USP as ‘people want the largest commercial aircraft in the world.’
‘It’s a passenger favourite,’ he said. ‘It’s a crew favourite. It’s a pilot favourite. And obviously an airport favourite as well.’
He even cited the glamorous Pan Am flight attendants as a reference point for the kind of experience Global Airlines could offer both passengers and employees.
As the world still digests the confusing news that an army of uber-rich celebrities headed off to space on a glorified hen-do, is this yet another example of a rich man offering the elite an extravagant way to take to the skies?
‘It could be a case of “boys with big toys”,’ says Marina. ‘Maybe he just wanted to own an airline in the same way some men want a football club.
‘But A380s aren’t that prestigious anymore. They might be a novelty, and people might be curious, but in the aviation world, they’re not that impressive.’
And given the ratio of first-class passengers to economy, the idea that Global is only for the top 0.1%, doesn’t quite ring true either.
‘It would be easy to say he’s just catering to an elite, but the majority of Global’s passengers will be in economy, paying the lowest fares,’ says Marina.
Another problem with A380s is their load factor, which relates to how efficiently they are can fill available seats.
‘The A380s can carry from around 500 to more than 800 people, depending on the configuration of seats,’ says Marina.
‘This is a huge amount of passengers, which even big airlines have problems filling. The average on a transatlantic flight route is about 250.
‘Global could be flying with half-empty planes and there are already very thin profit margins when it comes to plane tickets.
‘How long Global can survive, will depend on how rich James Asquith is, and how long he is able to afford operating at a loss.’
When asked about the latest development that Global’s plane is currently parked in a storage facility, Marina said it was a sign that ‘this airline is not working.’
She continued: ‘They say the aircraft is being sent for heavy maintenance, but in any case, they’re not doing much traffic.’
The statistics are pretty bleak: over 18 months, the aircraft has only clocked up 62 hours of flight time, including test flights and trips for maintenance.
‘What are their profit margins, considering how few flights they’ve taken?’ Marina asks.
When asked whether this could be the end of the road for Global, she said she couldn’t speculate but added: ‘At a minimum, the aircraft will be out for four to 10 weeks, and it’s only just taken off.
‘As a business model, it’s not picking up.’
The background
Global is the brainchild of self-made UK millionaire, James Asquith, who became the youngest person to travel to all 196 countries, aged just 24.
Already CEO and founder of Airbnb rival, Holiday Swap, James announced plans for his start-up airline back in 2022 — a dream he’d had since he was a child, growing up with pilot parents.
In a world where Ryanair charges €55 for the simple pleasure of checking in at the airport, James has vowed that Global would ‘bring back the golden age of air travel, with a modern flair.’
In other words, that it will make flying glam again.
For first-class passengers, that would mean 12ft long ‘suites’ with the potential for a double bed. Forgetting no subgenre of traveller, the airline even created a ‘Gamer class’, complete with Xbox and Playstations.
However, that plan has since been dropped.
Ambitious plans said flights would launch from London Gatwick in 2023, and that by 2025, a fleet of 100 planes would fly from European hubs too.
However, as with most start-ups, not everything went according to plan.
After the two transatlantic trips from the UK to NYC in May, no other flights are on sale.
A version of this article was originally published on May 15.
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk.
