One month to its debut, Global Airlines has launched ticket sales for its inaugural flight from Scotland to New York. The maiden flight is scheduled to leave Glasgow Airport on May 15th. A few hours later, Global’s first flight will land at New York’s JFK Airport.
Besides ticket sales, the airline revealed the interior cabin design of their plane of choice, the Airbus A380.
The goal of the airline is give passengers the chance to experience the golden age of commercial aviation. Travelers will receive an elevated level of customer service and products on board the plane.
Global’s Airbus A380 participating in the first flight is configured with 506 seats. A staggering 408 seats were set up for economy class. 70 for business. And 8 for first class.
Tickets for this inaugural flight, which is actually a charter flight operated by Hi Fly Malta are pretty expensive. Economy seats are starting at $1028. Business seats cost $4909. First class is a whopping $9,455.
The airline expects to eventually run four Airbus A380’s in its fleet.
The route pairings initially will be between Glasglow – New York, and Manchester – New York. Global plans to expand its network to Los Angeles.
Global Airlines founder and CEO, James Asquith commented on the launch in the Independent:
“I’m feeling good. It’s been a long road to get here. It’s those crazy kind of last couple of days and weeks looking to enter into service and it has certainly not been easy. We knew it would be massively challenging. But we persevered and here we are.”
Our Thoughts About Global Airlines Foray in Transatlantic Travel
We’re Excited For Innovation But The Headwinds Are Very Strong
Global Airlines has been catching a bit of flak when it comes to their launch. People are doubting that the airline will be able to launch an Airbus A380 full of passengers. That is very likely the case. But you have to appreciate all the hard work the team has done to innovate and turn an idea into reality.
If Global Airlines can pull this off, it has to capture the tiny market of people that appreciates this level of travel. People love the Airbus A380. No other passenger plane on the market (besides a Boeing 747) makes people stop what they are doing and look up when it flies by. Passengers love flying on Emirates Airbus A380s.
But, the UK is simply not Dubai. It’s hard to believe that passengers flying between the U.S and the UK would even consider an alternative airline like Global Airlines. Considering all the different options at their disposal.
Golly, those prices…
Now let’s talk about those prices. Wow. That only solidifies the point about passengers not budging from the British Airways, American Airlines, and Delta’s of the world. You must really want to fly on an Airbus A380 to fork up that amount of money to fly on it.
And to top it off, this first flight is starting in Glasgow, Scotland. While yes, there isn’t nonstop service to the U.S from Glasglow. The city is not even the primary airport in Scotland. Edinburgh is considered the international gateway to the country. It’s hard to believe that enough demand will be scraped up from Glasglow alone.
But back to the prices. The UK market simply doesn’t want to deviate from the major players that fly between the U.S and the UK. Look at Norse. Norse Atlantic Airways offers flights from the UK to the USA. They function as a ultra low cost transatlantic carrier but they are struggling to capture their share of demand without loss.
With Global Airlines looking to attack the opposite spectrum as Norse it may get ugly for them really quick.
