Contracted by Global Airlines to operate its only Airbus A380, Hi Fly completed the ferry flight of the aircraft with registration number 9H-GLOBL between Dresden, in Germany, and Beja, in Portugal, on Friday.
The flight, scheduled for Thursday, ended up taking place only the following day, covering a distance of 1,240 nautical miles in about 3 hours.
According to James Asquith, founder of Global Airlines, it was the 5th flight of the A380, which was stored in the Mojave Desert, in California, until May 2024 when it flew to Glasgow, in Scotland.
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Originally received by China Southern Airlines, the A380 still partially displays the colors of the Chinese airline, despite receiving the Global logo in Dresden, where it underwent an overhaul carried out by EFW.
In Beja, the four-engine aircraft will continue the preparation process for entry into service in 2025. Still without an Air Operator Certificate (AOC), Global Airlines hired the Portuguese Hi Fly to fly the A380 initially.
The carrier already had an A380 in its fleet, registration 9H-MIP, which was leased in 2018 and even operated express cargo flights during the pandemic.
“This is now the fifth flight in the Global Airlines journey and we are delighted to see the extremely qualified Hi Fly crew taking our first aircraft to the skies once again. We’ve only just begun and there will be plenty more flights in 2025 as Global and Hi Fly continue the work to take the Global aircraft around the world,” said James Asquith, CEO of Global Airlines.
