The Airbus A380 conquered another customer, the British airline Global Airlines. The new carrier announced this week that it has acquired a copy of the world’s largest passenger jet from Nordic Aviation.
The aircraft, still without registration, has even received the logos of the new airline in Tarbes (France), where it has been stored since March 2021.
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The A380 originally belonged to Singapore Airlines, where it flew for ten years until it was passed on to Hi Fly, a Portuguese leisure airline.
Since December 2020, the A380 has not flown after the company returned it to the lessor.
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Global Airlines intends to debut transatlantic routes from April 2024. For this purpose, it plans to acquire another three A380s in the coming months.
The airline did not reveal how much it paid for the second-hand A380, but said it was “in the eight-figure range”.
“Our aspiration is to be the best way to fly, and the A380, with its unmatched levels of space, comfort, and service, will be absolutely central to achieving that vision. The purchase of our first aircraft demonstrates that we are well on the way to launching Global. The next step is to overhaul and refit the aircraft to our high specification, providing our customers with the best experience in the sky today,” said James Asquith, CEO and Founder of Global Airlines.
Its founder stated that he intends to launch the new carrier during the summer in the hemisphere, when then the type of service it intends to offer and its route network will be detailed.
Since before the pandemic, the A380 has been considered a very expensive aircraft to operate and with limited destinations. Airlines that bet on the largest passenger plane in the world ended up changing their minds and taking it out of service earlier than expected.
But strong post-Covid demand has forced some operators to rescue them, such as British Airways, Lufthansa and Etihad.
The acquisition of Global Airlines, however, is unprecedented, being the first in history to invest in the used double-deck aircraft.
