Global Airlines, the British startup with grand ambitions to build a transatlantic airline around the Airbus A380, has been ordered into compulsory liquidation. The High Court of Justice made the winding-up order against Global Airlines Ltd on 4 November 2026, according to a notice in The Gazette published on 12 November.
The order follows a winding-up petition filed on 29 May 2026 by one of Global’s creditors. The notice names Official Receiver V Prime as liquidator, appointed on 4 November.
The rise and fall of Global Airlines
First pitched by founder James Asquith in 2021, Global Airlines was to become an airline like no other, operating a fleet of A380s across the Atlantic Ocean with cabins configured in five classes, including a “Gamer Class” of video gaming pods.
In the intervening years, Global scaled down its ambitions for the size of its fleet and the interiors of its aircraft. Eventually, Global Airlines was able to secure one operational A380, a former China Southern Airlines aircraft, MSN 120. The airframe was retired from service with China Southern in 2022 and stored at Mojave until 2024, when it was re-activated by Global. The aircraft underwent restorative maintenance at Mojave and was then transferred to Dresden for heavy maintenance.
Finding an A380 operator
Despite Global’s presentations that it had secured an Air Operators Certificate, the airline never completed the AOC process and needed to find an operator for its aircraft. HiFly Malta was selected and the aircraft was transferred to the airline’s base in Beja, Portugal. From Beja, the newly re-registered 9H-GLOBL A380 made a series of test flights to Barcelona, Berlin, and London.
The first passenger flight
On 15 May 2025, Flightradar24 was onboard Global Airlines’ inaugural revenue service from Glasgow to New York-JFK. You can see our report on that flight in the video above.
Global went on to operate just three more commercial flights—the return to Glasgow and a round trip between Manchester and New York.
Following these flights the aircraft was positioned to Dresden once again for additional maintenance before being sent to Tarbes for long-term storage. The aircraft has remained in storage since 16 July 2025.
What happens next?
In short, we don’t know. James Asquith, founder of Global Airlines, has not publicly commented since the winding up notice was published.
The company has been ordered into liquidation and as part of that the receiver will be in charge of establishing the worth of the company’s assets and paying creditors. What that means for the future of MSN 120 is unclear. The aircraft is safely stored at the Tarmac Aerosave facilities in Tarbes, but it is in need of its 12 year heavy maintenance check. That check is an expensive, time-consuming process and there do not appear to be any willing buyers for a used A380 in need of so much work.
As the airline never really got off the ground, it is looking increasingly likely its former aircraft will remain grounded for good.
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