Global Airlines is the suspicious UK-based Airbus A380 “airline startup.” Well, the airline has just announced that it has acquired its first Airbus A380, not to be confused with the other first Airbus A380 it acquired last year…
In this post:
Global Airlines takes full ownership of first Airbus A380
Global Airlines has taken full ownership of the Airbus A380 with the MSN 120. The roughly 11-year-old jet was delivered to China Southern in 2013, before being put in storage in late 2022, as China Southern retired its Airbus A380 fleet.
The aircraft is equipped with 506 seats, including eight first class suites, 70 business class seats, and 428 economy class seats.
Of course Global Airlines is promising the world’s finest passenger experience across the board, so presumably those interiors just won’t do for this leading airline.
Global Airlines has fully acquired the aircraft from Jet Midwest, and it now carries the registration code 9H-GLOBL. The airplane is currently at the Mojave Airport (MHV), where Business Class Aviation and HiFly have completed the return to service work for the aircraft.
The airline claims in a press release that it has told those working on bringing the plane back to service “to go above and beyond in terms of the return to service works.” Lol. The airline claims that the airplane will leave Mojave Airport in the next few weeks, “with its next destination announced in due course.” There’s a lot of “announced in due course” action at this airline, eh?
Here’s what James Asquith, CEO of Global Airlines, had to say about this development:
“Purchasing an aircraft takes a phenomenal amount of time, and over the past year, we, with support from partners, have been putting the building blocks in place to take full ownership of the aircraft and plan its first flight.
“Lots of people predicted we wouldn’t make it even this far, and I couldn’t be happier to be giving MSN 120 a second lease of life.
“The fact that after such a rigorous inspection from BCA and Hi Fly,the aircraft was found to be in such good condition is testemant not only to our unwavering commitment to safety, but to the enginerring excellence of Airbus.
“I must also thank Jet Midwest for all their help and assistance this past year, and hopefully we will be able to work with them on identifying and acquiring more A380’s and developing our fleet.”
Wait, what about Global Airlines’ other first A380?!?
If the story of Global Airlines acquiring its first Airbus A380 sounds familiar, it’s for good reason. In May 2023, Global Airlines announced that it acquired its first Airbus A380:
“Global Airlines, the world’s newest long-haul airline, has made a significant leap towards revolutionising commercial aviation with the acquisition of its first A380 aircraft from Doric Aviation.”
“The acquisition of the A380 by Global Airlines was made at an undisclosed price, understood to be in the eight-figure range, demonstrating the airline’s dedication to acquiring top-quality assets and investing in its future success.”
That particular Airbus A380 was the 17-year-old jet with the registration code 9H-MIP. That plane first flew for Singapore Airlines, and then for HiFly, before reportedly being acquired by Global Airlines.
So what happened there? Who the heck knows, the airline isn’t even addressing that. In general, it doesn’t instill much confidence when the airline claims it’s acquiring its first plane multiple times. Like, did they storm the aircraft graveyard and just put some decals on the plane, or…? 😉
Now, to Global Airlines’ credit, the ex-China Southern A380 leaves the airline a lot better positioned to launch operations than the ex-Singapore Airlines A380. Long story short, the ex-Singapore Airlines A380 business class seats are no longer certified to fly, and here’s a thread by @thatjohn explaining why.
At least the ex-China Southern A380 interiors are fine to fly, if the airline chooses to launch operations that way. Global Airlines now claims that it plans to launch operations in late 2024, initially operating charter services, or something.
Bottom line
Global Airlines claims to have now fully acquired its first Airbus A380, which is a former China Southern jet. The airline claims the plane will be flying somewhere in the coming weeks, but won’t say what the destination is.
Perhaps the strangest thing about all of this — I mean, other than this concept altogether — is that in May 2023 the airline had also announced it acquired its first Airbus A380. I’m not sure what happened to that plane, because apparently it’s not the first A380 anymore.
What do you make of this Global Airlines A380 development?
Where will the Global Airline fly between?
Did they really write "testemant"?
I assume you did copy and paste, so it seems unlikely you would have introduced the spelling errors (although there is possibly a third-party - a mis-programmed spell-checker!)
I want to believe…
If this article were dripping in even more sarcasm than it already is, I'd be totally drenched! Justifiably so, mind you :)
Having done my own search to confirm, I'd suggest you add "[sic]" or make an editor's note regarding the first set of pull quotes to make clear that it was the original text offering "testement" to Airbus's "enginerring excellence," and that the typos weren't introduced by you.
Lucky, the sticky, unresponsive ads are really becoming a nuisance lately. It’s hard to read your content when janky video ads crash the page and can’t be closed by clicking the “x.”
Try uBlock Origin browser extension :)
Is 'Happy Man' really James Asquith?
Ben can you please get in touch with HBO, Netflix or Peacock to do a doco on one of these realistic and totally plausible 'startups' please? It would be fascinating viewing. Maybe that man who was angry at you regarding the start up of flights into ORD can be one of the talking heads?
@Lucky. I clicked on that link regarding why “business class seats are no longer certified to fly”, but I do not see an actual explanation. What am I missing? Thank you
@ Daniel B -- Try clicking this link and then scrolling up:
https://twitter.com/thatjohn/status/1663460063862833155
Does that work?
This is the only thing which comes up after clicking the link and there is no possibility to scroll up:
“As it turned out, COVID happened and Hi Fly announced the phaseout of their A380 in March 2020 so never had to answer the question of "what seats are you going to design, test, and install to replace the Koito business class".
That question is critical for #GloBaltia.“
Maybe the fact that I am not on X can explain that I cannot scroll up?
Snarky Ben seems to be playing this story strictly for laughs, despite his protestations. That worked, for a time. But Global Airlines now has an a380. Still not much of airline, but ahead of those perennial jokes known as Global Ghana and Baltia. After all, what airline buys an a380 just for laughs?? I doubt this venture - if it is actually legit - will be a success, much less even come to launching flights...but...
Snarky Ben seems to be playing this story strictly for laughs, despite his protestations. That worked, for a time. But Global Airlines now has an a380. Still not much of airline, but ahead of those perennial jokes known as Global Ghana and Baltia. After all, what airline buys an a380 just for laughs?? I doubt this venture - if it is actually legit - will be a success, much less even come to launching flights...but it is fascinating and I'd rather know what the (potentially scammy?) backstory is, instead of being served up a rehash of tired old sarcastic jokes and snarky asides from Ben.
@ John -- Are you aware that Baltia also had a 747, which the airline bought secondhand? So if the definition of semi-legitimacy is acquiring an aircraft, then we have really low standards. And I am giving you the story here, I'm telling you the carrier's latest announcements. In this case, that the airline acquired a China Southern A380, along with all the details of the cabin. Is that not news?
I see you've made it into Baltia's Wikipedia entry!
I find this whole thing interesting. Clearly there’s some money being thrown around here for some reason. I’d love to understand who is bankrolling it and why. I wouldn’t write it off. Airlines in general are awful businesses so it’s quite easy to predict the demise of this. What’s the upside case? It’s always interesting when someone who thinks different enters a space. I hope they get somewhere and spur some innovation.
Suspect crypto money is behind this - easy come ... easy go ...
Surprised they couldn't register G-RIFT.
I guess one day this will rank up there with SBF and Bernie Madoff. The operating efficiency of an A380 is horrible and why ultimately it was a total dud compared to other a/c types. It works on relatively few number of long haul flights but flying an A380 even with Spirit style seating from New York to Orlando likely would been a total cash burner.
Even if this doesn’t succeed, you’re delusional to even think it would rank up there with SBF and Bernie Madoff.,,, really?
Same practice. Duping people too dumb to know what they've got is too good to be true even when "others in the know" know it's a total scam.
Can't wait for the Netlix docu about this.
Obviously Ben is just jealous that while he predicted them going bankrupt, Global Airlines have already two first A380 and many more first A380s to come!
Hardly any staff/ crew How do they pay for fuel salaries etc? They have no AOC but selected the champagne. No product just a mish mash of different interiors and run by someone who is a complete a hole
There is no goal to serve the market, the goal is to get more money from the investors.
Said it before...I'll say it again...ONE WORD....Baltia
Ben, your “coverage” of Global seems to be very biased and misleading to your readers. I hope they see this as an opinion article rather than factual. But, mob mentality is strong for those with closed minds. I feel like Global is doing a great job starting up, and most of what the “haters” say won’t happen is beginning to happen. Why so negative? Most of your readers seem to enjoy participating in the “locker...
Ben, your “coverage” of Global seems to be very biased and misleading to your readers. I hope they see this as an opinion article rather than factual. But, mob mentality is strong for those with closed minds. I feel like Global is doing a great job starting up, and most of what the “haters” say won’t happen is beginning to happen. Why so negative? Most of your readers seem to enjoy participating in the “locker room bully talk” for a quick laugh. I say let’s just see what happens and wish them the best!
Beside that, I read “acquiring” and “taking full ownership” as two different things. I believe the other plane is also still in the works.. but that just may be my open mind thinking a little more past my ego. Cheers!
@ Happy Man -- I'm curious, what do you think Global Airlines is doing a good job with? Selecting a champagne supplier for economy?
When eight months ago the airline announced that it had completed "the acquisition of its first A380 aircraft from Doric Aviation," how would you interpret that, if not "taking full ownership" of?
In case you're wondering why I'm skeptical, let me explain. I'm not saying Global Airlines is a scam, but...
@ Happy Man -- I'm curious, what do you think Global Airlines is doing a good job with? Selecting a champagne supplier for economy?
When eight months ago the airline announced that it had completed "the acquisition of its first A380 aircraft from Doric Aviation," how would you interpret that, if not "taking full ownership" of?
In case you're wondering why I'm skeptical, let me explain. I'm not saying Global Airlines is a scam, but you understand that there have been several airlines startups that have been scams intended to defraud investors, right? Just look at Baltia.
If there were anything about this airline that seemed realistic, I'd love to support it. But from the beginning, the airline just hasn't been very serious. I mean, in early 2023 the airline was claiming it would launch in the same year. That's simply not the timeline with which an airline can launch operations. Don't you think the experienced people behind the airline would know that? How would you make sense of the kind of communication they've had?
None of us have started an airline, but I think we all understand how hard it is to do so. The AOC and a slot times I’m sure are the hardest to accomplish, so it makes sense things like champagne for customers and credit card partnerships are coming out first.. I actually praise the team for trying to do that AND think of all the little things. I would assume they are announcing things as...
None of us have started an airline, but I think we all understand how hard it is to do so. The AOC and a slot times I’m sure are the hardest to accomplish, so it makes sense things like champagne for customers and credit card partnerships are coming out first.. I actually praise the team for trying to do that AND think of all the little things. I would assume they are announcing things as they are completed to create excitement with the public. I doubt most of the high profile people being added to the board would put their reputations on the line for something that us blog writers and readers try to make jokes about…
As far as your misleading post, why even show images of the old cabins from a DIFFERENT airline, seemingly making Global look like that’s what their interiors are? It has already been established that they are going to refit the interior with a partner, which has been announced. But you probably shrugged that off.
To me it just seems like you don’t like James and are hoping he fails so you can get clicks and your potential “I told you so” post. Just all seems very biased from my point of view, but that’s what journalism has become these days. So can’t blame you entirely. Just my two cents.
@Happy man - I've actually started 3 airlines so I think I am somewhat qualified to comment.
Global's PR statements are delusional. By every account, so is the fundraising, technical planning, recruitment and most everything else.
That's not to say they won't eventually be succesful. However, they definitively won't be succesful if they continue down the path they are on right now.
I don't comment about Global usually because I don't believe in giving...
@Happy man - I've actually started 3 airlines so I think I am somewhat qualified to comment.
Global's PR statements are delusional. By every account, so is the fundraising, technical planning, recruitment and most everything else.
That's not to say they won't eventually be succesful. However, they definitively won't be succesful if they continue down the path they are on right now.
I don't comment about Global usually because I don't believe in giving oxygen to this kind of nonsense, but I'll make a brief exception here.
In fairness to @Happy Man, 'acquisition' could cover the completion of a lease agreement. Just because I acquire a product does not necessarily mean that I own it.
@ simmonad -- For what it's worth, the airline had announced at the time that it purchased it outright, rather than leasing it:
"The purchase of our first aircraft demonstrates that we are well on the way to launching Global. The next step is to overhaul and refit the aircraft to our high specification, providing our customers with the best experience in the sky today. Acquiring our aircraft rather than leasing showcases our commitment...
@ simmonad -- For what it's worth, the airline had announced at the time that it purchased it outright, rather than leasing it:
"The purchase of our first aircraft demonstrates that we are well on the way to launching Global. The next step is to overhaul and refit the aircraft to our high specification, providing our customers with the best experience in the sky today. Acquiring our aircraft rather than leasing showcases our commitment to financial security and resilience from day one."
Great job would be:
"obtaining their AOC;
Giving a timeline for aircraft refurb:
Giving an update as to slots and gates at the airports they plan to serve (there is only 1 A380 gate at LGW and it's occupied most of the day by the triple daily Emirates A380 service as an example):
Announce routes, fares, frequencies etc"
They said they would launch for summer 2024, so, say June 1 at...
Great job would be:
"obtaining their AOC;
Giving a timeline for aircraft refurb:
Giving an update as to slots and gates at the airports they plan to serve (there is only 1 A380 gate at LGW and it's occupied most of the day by the triple daily Emirates A380 service as an example):
Announce routes, fares, frequencies etc"
They said they would launch for summer 2024, so, say June 1 at the latest.
There's an awful lot to do in just 4 months if they plan to meet that goal.
If they miss summer 2024 I'm sure Norse Atlantic can attest to how difficult it is to sell tickets over winter.
I'm sure there might be a few warm bottles of Duc De Paris left in the bar carts for their first PDB service...
The chances of this airline launching flights by, say June 1st this year are slim to none at this stage.
Even if they choose to keep the same interiors in order to get the plane into service, I mean, on such a competitive aviation route with other airlines offering their best products, who wouldn't want to choose a clapped out old China Southern aircraft for their journey?
A completely absurd ‘business plan’
James Asquith is a clown . I hope this is a complete financial disaster.
I'm just curious to know who goes to prison first, and how quickly it happens.
Too bad it's not stateside; otherwise him and Elizabeth Holmes could split a cell. ;)
It boggles the mind that there are people/VCs willing to invest in this. FOMO is real.