Caviar, Champagne And £7K First Class: Inside The Airline Daring To Redefine Transatlantic Travel

An ambitious plan is going to transform the transatlantic flight experience across all passenger classes as Global Airlines is set to make their first flight on May 15 that will take travellers from Glasgow to New York in a 7-hour flight.

Through the years many airlines have opted for making tighter spaces, sell tickets with no baggage included, poor food service or even dismissal from some of the staff, but Global Airlines aims to change that with some perks, although at a higher price.

With a starting price of £778 it is significantly more expensive than competitors like Virgin Atlantic whose flights from Edinburgh to JFK Airport cost around £401.

Although the price of their first flight was not cheap, Global Airlines had to work with a partner in order to conduct their first flight, collaborating with Portuguese charter carrier Hi Fly and their subsidiary Hi Fly Malta.

Global Airlines acquired their first plane, an Airbus A380, from China Southern jet that has 428 economy seats, 70 business and eight first class ready for the transatlantic trip.

What Perks Will Global Airlines Offer That Others Won't?

Global Airlines doesn't offer the typical flying experience. Their economic class is called 'Global Traveler', giving it an exclusive and elegant touch, this is because travellers in this section will receive champagne and their ticket already includes baggage onboard the plane, something very rare for a new airline having their first flight.

The business class costs around £3700 and their 8-seat first class section costs £7127 to experience. 4 of the 8 available spots have already been filled, and business class only has 1 seat available for the airlines maiden flight to JFK from Glasgow, something unheard of from a newer airline, although with heavy popularity. It is expected that the higher classes will receive an even better treatment from the perks received on the economic class.

Founder and CEO James Asquith, a Visionary?

James Asquith is the founder and CEO of Global Airlines, a startup company he founded in 2021. With great emotion, Asquith posted on instagram a picture with the caption 'it has been a week since this event in Barcelona — an unprecedented event, as far as I can recall, that marks the beginning of a new era in global commercial aviation.'

Asquith has made a following by posting updates of the status of the company and his emotions through the long ride he has experienced as an airline owner. Finally, James posted a big message for the fans that have gone through the journey with him and his company.

'We are so proud of the onboard product. First class chinaware made in England and caviar in business class, with amenity kits in every cabin. Let's take a moment to remember that things will never be perfect on day 1, nor the finished product, but for us, we want you all to help us roll out more in the future and help improving the vision of Global.'

'If you look at any airline in history, their product on day 1 was never their finished product, and goes through many evolutions.'

'It's a testament to aviation how big the leap has been the last few years in the onboard hard product. As some people will know, it takes many, many years to design, certify and test and new product, sometimes as long as 7-8 years.'

Finally, the CEO of Global gave an interview to The Independent where he said '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.'

Global Airlines has experienced the flight of one of their airplanes from Berlin to London, although this was a closed event for investors and people close to James Asquith, who even posted a picture of his parents after landing at Heathrow. Global Airlines wants to set an exclusivity trend, will they achieve this goal or is it only a dream?