'I flew on the hyped Global Airlines A380 from Manchester to New York and it was extremely bizarre'

If you’ve flown from Manchester Airport to New York before, you likely travelled with Aer Lingus or Virgin Atlantic, or perhaps with British Airways via a London connection. But there’s a new airline that’s looking to shake up transatlantic routes and promising a return to the ‘Golden Age’ of air travel.

Seemingly popping up out of nowhere, Global Airlines has set out to tackle this market already dominated by household names and it aims to do this using the “Superjumbo” Airbus A380.

Launched in 2021 by businessman James Asquith, Global Airlines acquired a second-hand 12-year-old A380, previously flown by China Southern in May 2023. 'Mulitmillionaire' Asquith has a background in travel, but not aviation. He founded Airbnb rival Holiday Swap and holds the Guinness World record for being the youngest man to visit every country in the world.

He’s said launching his own airline is his childhood dream, but can that dream become a reality?

The plan: to completely transform the aircraft with five different classes, create a ‘gaming’ cabin, a bustling bar, and launch a new class that's a hybrid of business and premium economy.

All of this while giving passengers the experience of flying on a four-engine double-decker plane, a rare experience as many airlines prefer small and more manageable aircraft. Emirates is among the few airlines with A380s, flying three of these from Manchester each day.

On May 15, the first Global Airlines flight (well, operated by Hi Fly, more on that below) flew from Glasgow to New York JFK, to mixed reviews. It became clear that the Global Airlines vision hadn’t quite fully materialised - there was no ‘gamer cabin’ and the air craft still felt very much like a China Southern plane.

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