{"id":996,"date":"2025-04-18T10:07:03","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T10:07:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/?p=996"},"modified":"2025-04-22T12:00:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T12:00:35","slug":"ryanair-beware-a-new-uk-airline-wants-to-put-the-glam-back-in-air-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/18\/ryanair-beware-a-new-uk-airline-wants-to-put-the-glam-back-in-air-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryanair beware, a new UK airline wants to put the glam back in air travel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s the brainchild of James Asquith (L) (Picture: Global Airlines)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new UK airline has been unveiled, and it\u2019s already selling tickets for its inaugural Glasgow to New York<\/a> flight.<\/p>\n

But they don\u2019t come cheap: an economy<\/a> return ticket on Global Airlines will cost passengers \u00a3778. <\/p>\n

Compare that with a \u00a3399 British Airways<\/a> fare for the same dates, and it\u2019s almost 95% more expensive.<\/p>\n

Fares for the premium seats spiral to dizzying amounts. Business class is \u00a33,700, and first costs a staggering \u00a36,506 (although granted, the first-class suites do seat two).\u00a0<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s it all about? <\/p>\n

Global is the brainchild of self-made UK millionaire, James Asquith, who became the youngest person ever to travel to all 196 countries, aged just 24.<\/p>\n

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Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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James Asquith is a self-made millionaire (Picture: Instagram @jamesasquith)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Already CEO and founder of Airbnb rival, Holiday Swap, James announced plans for his start-up airline back in 2022 \u2014 a dream he\u2019d had since he was a child, growing up with pilot parents.<\/p>\n

In a world where Ryanair<\/a> charges \u20ac55 for the simple pleasure of checking in at the airport, James has vowed that Global would \u2018bring back the golden age of air travel, with a modern flair.\u2019<\/p>\n

In other words, that it will make flying glam again.<\/p>\n

For first-class passengers, that would mean 12ft long \u2018suites\u2019 with the potential for a double bed. Forgetting no subgenre of traveller, the airline even created a \u2018Gamer class\u2019, complete with Xbox<\/a> and Playstations<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Everyone, from economy to first, would also be provided with free champagne, thanks to a partnership with Laurent-Perrier.<\/p>\n

Ambitious plans said flights would launch from London Gatwick<\/a> in 2023, and that by 2025, a fleet of 100 planes would fly from European hubs too.<\/p>\n

However, as with most start-ups, not everything went according to plan. But as tickets went on sale this week, James\u2019 dream has finally become a reality.<\/p>\n

Yet with such expensive flights, can he really succeed?<\/p>\n

The expert view<\/h2>\n

Aviation experts aren\u2019t convinced.<\/p>\n

The crux of the issue? James\u2019 business plan is based on using a particular type of aircraft: the Airbus A380, the largest commercial passenger aircraft.<\/p>\n

These massive, double-decker planes are no longer being made; there are now less than 200 in circulation, after being discontinued in 2021. Today, Emirates remains the largest carrier of A380s.<\/p>\n

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Emirates is currently the largest carrier of A380s (Picture: Nicolas Economou\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aviation expert and professor of aviation management at Dublin City University, Marina Efthymiou, tells Metro<\/strong> that the planes fell out of favour due to running costs.<\/p>\n

\u2018The A380 is a massive plane, with four engines, and space for lots of different classes,\u2019 Marina explains.<\/p>\n

\u2018Starting an airline is already incredibly expensive: you need to buy the planes, find the staff, and get your air operator\u2019s certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority, which can cost hundreds of thousands.\u2019<\/p>\n

Which begs the question, why does James think he can build a business on these planes?<\/p>\n

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James Asquith announced his airline in 2022 (Picture: Global Airlines)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And that\u2019s where the industry is stumped.<\/p>\n

The entrepreneur recently told The Independent<\/a> that the A380s are actually Global\u2019s USP as \u2018people want the largest commercial aircraft in the world.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s a passenger favourite,\u2019 he said. \u2018It\u2019s a crew favourite. It\u2019s a pilot favourite. And obviously an airport favourite as well.\u2019<\/p>\n

He even cited the glamorous Pan Am flight attendants as a reference point for the kind of experience Global Airlines could offer both passengers and employees. <\/p>\n

As the world still digests the confusing news that an army of uber-rich celebrities <\/a>headed off to space on a glorified hen-do<\/a>, is this yet another example of a rich man offering the elite an extravagant way to take to the skies?<\/p>\n

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The celebrities that went to space for 11 minutes (Picture: Blue Origin\/ZUMA Press Wire\/Shut)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018It could be a case of \u201cboys with big toys\u201d,\u2019 says Marina. \u2018Maybe he just wanted to own an airline in the same way some men want a football club.<\/p>\n

\u2018But A380s aren\u2019t that prestigious anymore. They might be a novelty, and people might be curious, but in the aviation world, they\u2019re not that impressive.\u2019<\/p>\n

And given the ratio of first-class passengers to economy, the idea that Global is only for the top 0.1%, doesn\u2019t quite ring true either.<\/p>\n

At the time of writing, the seat map for the inaugural flight, available on the Global website at booking, showed eight suites (room for 16 passengers) within the first-class cabin.<\/p>\n

\u2018It would be easy to say he\u2019s just catering to an elite, but the majority of Global\u2019s passengers will be in economy, paying the lowest fares,\u2019 says Marina.<\/p>\n

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Experts are dubious (Picture: Global Airlines)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another problem with A380s is their load factor, which relates to how efficiently they are can fill available seats.<\/p>\n

\u2018The A380s can carry from around 500 to more than 800 people, depending on the configuration of seats,\u2019 says Marina.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is a huge amount of passengers, which even big airlines have problems filling. The average on a transatlantic flight route is about 250. <\/p>\n

\u2018Global could be flying with half-empty planes and there are already very thin profit margins when it comes to plane tickets.<\/p>\n

\u2018How long Global can survive, will depend on how rich James Asquith is, and how long he is able to afford operating at a loss.\u2019<\/p>\n

Metro contacted Global Airlines for comment. After registering an interest in providing comment for this article, they did not respond to further communications.<\/em><\/p>\n

Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the brainchild of James Asquith (L) (Picture: Global Airlines) A new UK airline has been unveiled, and it\u2019s already selling tickets for its inaugural Glasgow to New York flight. But they don\u2019t come cheap: an economy return ticket on Global Airlines will cost passengers \u00a3778. Compare that with a \u00a3399 British Airways fare for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=996"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1005,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/996\/revisions\/1005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}