Global Airlines is taking bookings for its launch flights ….

Truth can be stranger than fiction …. and nowhere in aviation has that been more true than for Global Airlines, an airline start-up founded by travel influencer James Asquith.

Global Airlines launched in 2023 when it announced it wanted to operate a fleet of A380s from London Gatwick to North America ….

…. yes, the same A380s that many airlines are retiring because they are difficult to fill, and where spare parts are getting harder to source – some airlines are cannibalising selected aircraft in their A380 fleet to keep the remainder airborne.

Initially Global Airlines wanted to launch its first transatlantic flights in the summer of 2024. This was always ambitious and, of course, never happened.

Progress seemed slow, although the first aircraft did fly to Europe for a refurbishment.

Recently things have been stirring again. A few weeks ago, with almost no publicity – at least no press release – Global Airlines opened pre-sale, with tickets finally available to buy earlier this week.

The bizarre thing is that the tickets are not for a scheduled, regular service but for what appear to be one-off inaugural flights:

• Glasgow to New York JFK departs on 15th May and returns on 19th May
• Manchester to New York JFK departs on 21st May and returns on 25th May

There are no flights from London and each of the trips is for a fixed four-night stay. You can’t fly one-way (well, you can but you’re paying for a return ticket regardless!)

Both trips will be operated by Hi Fly, the Portuguese wet lease operator contracted by Global Airlines to run its A380 services. This means that the flight crew and cabin crew will be provided by Hi Fly. It’s not clear if they’ll be wearing Global Airlines uniforms or not!

Hi Fly has experience with the A380 as it operated one for charter and wet lease services for a few years ago before retiring it.

The pricing is, well, steep:

• First Class from £6,828 return
• Business class from £3,699 return
• Economy class from £777 return

For comparison, the cheapest British Airways World Traveller economy return in May 2025 is £358. The Business fare on Global does actually match BA’s cheapest offering. The cheapest First Class BA return in May is £4,163, so £2,600 cheaper ….

That’s a lot of money to drop on a brand new airline which has revealed absolutely nothing about its onboard experience. Bear in mind these flights are four weeks away …. but we still have no idea what the cabins look like!

Here’s how the Global Airlines website describes the trips:

“Onboard the cabins have all been overhauled to give a brand-new look and feel. The catering team has been busy preparing a new menu and there will be special ‘limited edition’ amenity kits in all cabins, for all passengers. If you’re travelling in First or Business, there will be the chance to book a chauffeur driven car to the airport, courtesy of our friends at Blacklane (subject to T&Cs).”

It gets even stranger because it is not clear what happens after these flights. Does Global Airlines still intend to operate a regular, scheduled service? Will they launch from Gatwick? Who knows!

For now, it seems that ‘launching’ the airline with these two services is more of a box ticking exercise so that it can say it honoured its commitment. The only explanation I can think of is that it needs to launch before a certain deadline to unlock further cash from its investors?!

Want to take a punt? You can book your ticket on the Global Airlines website here.

No media invitations appear to have been sent out (yet?).