James Asquith’s Global Airlines has turned heads after snapping up four Airbus A380 aircraft in recent months, bucking the wider industry trend that has seen others steer away from high-capacity superjumbos.
The A380 was at one time hailed the future of flying, but production ceased in 2021 after predicted order numbers failed to materialise. Asquith, though, believes he has spotted a post-pandemic opportunity to operate transatlantic out of Gatwick using A380s.
Speaking at WTM London during an aviation session on Wednesday (8 November), Asquith was asked by fellow panellist, Riyadh Air chief commercial officer Vincent Coste, about his business model.
Addressing Asquith directly, Coste said: “I would assume your distribution model will essentially be focused on direct online sales? Have you already thought about your mobile app and how you interact with your future guests?"
Asquith replied: “I will show you afterwards.”
However, when pressed by TTG on whether this exchange meant he was leaning towards a direct business model which did not include agents, Asquith said: “Agents categorically will [have a role to play].
"We’re in a world where there are travel agents and third-parties. The more visibility the better. Even if it’s a travel agent [booking], I still see that as direct.”
Self-made entrepreneur Asquith, who holds the record for being the youngest person to visit every single country, has previously suggested the transatlantic carrier would launch in spring 2024, although he was non-committal on a date or timeline at WTM London.
“Whatever I say I am going to be stuck to a pole and we’ll have to follow through with it,” he said. However, he added: “We know there are challenges for us, but there will be aircraft in the sky sooner than people think.”
Asquith also stressed he recognised Global Airlines would need to “build credibility” before launching. “If I go back two years and say, ‘we’re Global Airlines’, people would say, ‘we can’t find you on the internet, what are you talking about, you’re crazy’,” he remarked.
“Now, we’re getting a lot of support from people at Airbus, the people at the start who said, ‘are you a little bit crazy?’. It has been a big effort to build the credibility – we don’t want to destroy it by saying we want to do this, on this date, and then it gets delayed. It can happen to the biggest and the best in this sector.”
