The first Airbus A380 from Global Airlines, a British startup that is the new operator of the largest passenger plane in the world, completed a flight between the Mojave Desert, in California, and Scotland.
The double-decker jet took off on April 30 and after 17 hours and a stopover in Montreal, Canada, it landed at Prestwick Airport in Glasgow, where it will be prepared to take on flights with the new carrier.
The A380 registration 9H-GLOBL is one of five acquired by China Southern Airlines and withdrawn from service in November 2022. The aircraft were sold to Jet Midwest, which stored them in Mohave.
Created by businessman James Asquith, Global Airlines plans to launch flights with a fleet of A380s to compete on routes such as London (Heathrow) and New York (JFK).
The huge jet will, however, be operated by Hi Fly, from Portugal, an airline that has expertise in flying the A380.
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The next step for the aircraft will be to begin a full interior refurbishment and continue its maintenance journey back to the skies, Global said in a statement.
“There were moments when I thought the aircraft would not make it out of America, but thanks to amazing efforts from Airbus, Hi Fly, our maintenance partners and of course our brilliant Global team, we now have our first aircraft in Europe and are in a position and a place where we can take even further strides forward”, said Asquith.
