An airline startup with plans to fly A380s between London and New York made its first transatlantic flight

Pete Syme
Updated ·2 min read
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  • Global Airlines completed its first transatlantic flight with an Airbus A380.

  • The startup plans to fly the superjumbo jet between London and New York.

  • However, some critics are skeptical, given the waning popularity of the A380 among carriers.

Global Airlines completed its first transatlantic flight with an Airbus A380 on Wednesday.

The British startup wants to fly the superjumbo jet between London and New York, with the first commercial flight penciled in for later this year.

It took ownership of its first aircraft in February, an A380 previously owned by China Southern Airlines. The jet, registered as 9H-GLOBL, completed some test flights in California's Mojave Desert the same month.

On Tuesday, the A380 made its first flight from Mojave to Montreal. The following day, it flew across the Atlantic to Glasgow Prestwick Airport — a nearly eight-hour flight.

It was the most tracked flight worldwide on Flightradar24 on the day, with a peak of over 40,000 people following its journey. But planespotters on the ground in Scotland were somewhat disappointed to see that it was still painted in the China Southern livery.

Global Airlines plans to acquire three more A380s. But critics are skeptical of the startup, founded by 35-year-old James Asquith. He's known for being the youngest person to travel to every sovereign country and for running a house-swap platform called Holiday Swap.

"There were moments when I thought the aircraft would not make it out of America, but thanks to amazing efforts from Airbus, Hi Fly, our maintenance partners and of course our brilliant Global team, we now have our first aircraft in Europe and are in a position and a place where we can take even further strides forward," Asquith said.

The A380 has waned in popularity with several airlines retiring it during the pandemic due to its high fuel cost. Its huge capacity necessitates strong demand on the routes it flies.

Global Airlines plans to fit the superjumbo with 471 seats. The excitement among plane enthusiasts for the A380 suggests it has a chance to succeed, but only time will tell whether enough people buy tickets for the startup.

The firm said the next steps are to start work on a complete refurbishment of the jet's interior, and to develop new maintenance capabilities at Glasgow Prestwick.

Read the original article on Business Insider