British startup carrier Global Airlines has successfully taken off on its maiden passenger flight from Glasgow, Scotland, to New York, United States, becoming the first British airline to offer a direct flight across the Atlantic on this route.
The aircraft, an Airbus A380 painted in Global Airlines colors and registered as 9H-GLOBL, departed Glasgow Airport (GLA) in Scotland on May 15, 2025, at 11:33 local time, heading to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) as flight 3L380.
And it’s off ✈️
The Global Airlines A380 leaves Glasgow Airport @heraldscotland pic.twitter.com/6PDt49BqVU
— Mark McDougall (@McDougall1994) May 15, 2025
The aircraft is set to come back to Scotland on May 19, 2025. It will then depart from Manchester (MAN) to New York (JFK) on May 21, 2025, operating flight HFM810, and return from New York to Manchester on May 25, 2025, as flight HFM811.
Currently, Global Airlines lacks the required permits or slots to run regular services to the US. Therefore, these flights are branded as Global Airlines but are operated by Hi Fly Malta, a Maltese subsidiary of Portuguese charter airline Hi Fly.
The new British airline currently has only four transatlantic charter flights scheduled, which can be booked through the travel agency Travelopedia. Global Airlines is yet to release a flight schedule beyond the first four flights, so it’s currently unclear when these will be operated regularly.
Global Airlines was founded in 2021 by travel personality and entrepreneur James Asquith. In a recent Instagram post, Asquith shared an image of the onboard ‘pub’ with the caption: “See you at the Sky Pub at 43,000 feet,” along with pictures of the crew preparing for the first flight.
