New UK airline ‘that takes passengers back to golden age of travel’ launches first flight
GLOBAL Airlines has taken off from Glasgow Airport after promising to make travel less painful – here is everything that the airline claims to offer.
Global Airlines aims to offer flights that have better service and are less stressful than other airlines’ – with added luxuries on board including champagne and caviar onboard.
The British airline’s maiden flight, with an Airbus A380 plane, heading for New York JFK, was due to set off at 11am today, but was slightly delayed and finally took off at 11:34am.
James Asquith, the founded of Global Airlines, has promised to “take passengers back to the Golden Age of Travel, reinvigorating the onboard experience with elevated service”.
The 36-year-old has promised that it will be a new era of flying.
He said: “People are sick and tired of the service they get on current airlines. We will be better.”
He added that he is “constantly bewildered and disappointed by the poor experiences he has encountered aboard hundreds of commercial flights”.
Instead, Global Airlines hopes to give passengers “the best experience in the sky” and get “fast relief from the aches and pains associated with commercial air travel”.
According to The Independent, 170 seats out of a possible 506 are occupied on today’s flight.
In addition, one passenger paid £2,999 for a business class ticket but was upgraded to first-class upon check-in.
Other passengers reportedly requested to pay for an upgrade, but were given it free of charge.
It is also rumoured that food and drink for the inaugural flight cost £40,000.
In 2013, Asquith became the youngest person to travel to every country in the world at 24-years-old.
However, he has now been overtaken by Luca Pferdmenges, age 23.
Asquith previously worked in investment banking for eight years, before launching the Holiday Swap website – which is partially funding the Global Airlines project.
The airline currently owns two European-built Airbus A380s and the one that is serviceable is 12 years old.
Will the airline take off?
Lisa Minot, The Sun’s head of travel weighs in.
IT’S being billed -by its millionaire owner – as a game-changing new airline that will revolutionise the passenger experience.
But despite the lofty ambitions of its founder James Asquith – and its first commercial flight today from Glasgow to New York – the plain fact remains, it is simply not a functioning airline yet.
With just two fixed-date, charter flights from Glasgow and another – from Manchester later this month, the airline does not yet have the necessary permits – or slots – to fulfill its original ambition of launching regular scheduled flights from Gatwick to New York.
It is also taking on the big boys of the UK and US aviation industry on the most popular transatlantic route.
Asquith is looking to offer a revolutionary new service by using the huge Airbus A380 but Global’s only functioning plane – flying on the Glasgow inaugural today – is a 12-year-old A380 that was owned by China Southern.
Despite promising five different classes on the plane – including a much vaunted ‘gamer class’ that would sit between premium economy and business class and feature pods where passengers could play Xbox and PS5s – the aircraft taking off this week will feature just the original three classes if flew as a China Southern outfit – first, business and economy.
The London to New York route is lucrative for the legacy airlines like British Airways and Virgin as the number of business class passengers mean it can bring in decent profits.
Global Airline’s plane will have fewer premium seats than its competitors on an older plane – and right now can’t even offer scheduled flights or regular departures.
While competition is always good for passengers, Global has a mountain to climb before it can consider itself a serious alternative to the traditional carriers.
It will be interesting to see if the ambitions translate into a real game-changer of a service.
The other, a 16-year-old SuperJumbo formerly flown by Singapore Airlines, is still stored at Lourdes in southwest France.
Global Airlines currently only has four transatlantic flights planned and has promised scheduled flights from London Gatwick to the US, but does not have the necessary permits or slots.
In addition, long-haul flights from the UK are about to take much longer.
Plus, thousands of travellers are set to be hit by European airline strikes this weekend.