A travel entrepreneur and influencer is launching a new airline with a fleet of double-deckers that he says will bring back the “golden age” of flying.
James Asquith regularly shares his jet-setting lifestyle with his more than 1 million Instagram followers and holds the world record for being the youngest person to travel to every country in the world.
The 34-year-old Londoner is best known for founding Holiday Swap, an app called ‘Travel Tinder’, which brings together homeowners from around the world to holiday at each other’s homes.
Now it has launched Global Airlines, which says it has four jumbo jets and hopes to compete with Virgin Atlantic and British Airways on the highly competitive transatlantic route.
The SuperJumbo, or Airbus A380, is the world’s largest airliner and beloved by airplane fans, but it’s dwindling in short supply with just 261 built and production to halt in 2021.
James Asquith, 34, launched Global Airlines, which plans to fly SuperJumbo jets from Gatwick to New York next spring.
Asquith regularly shares his jetsetting lifestyle with his more than 1 million Instagram followers.
The planes, which cost approximately $450 million each, could carry hundreds of business and economy class passengers at a time between Gatwick and New York and would offer customers a space to socialize on board.
It is said that Asquith is taking advantage of the fact that the industry is falling in love with the planes by buying them, second-hand, at a lower price.
The businessman and blogger says his company has bought four so far and says he can cut costs by buying the planes instead of leasing them like most airlines do.
Global Airlines hopes to carry passengers from London Gatwick to New York starting next spring. Gatwick Airport have yet to confirm this to MailOnline.
It would be no mean feat, as no other A380s currently serve the route and the plane is considered by commercial airlines to be too expensive to refuel and difficult to park.
This has led to widespread skepticism from industry insiders that the plan will get off the ground.
“The aviation industry is full of dreamers who want to take to the skies and create competition, but it’s hard,” said Paul Charles, a former communications director for Virgin Atlantic. sky news.
Global Airlines says it has four jumbo jets and hopes to compete with Virgin Atlantic and British Airways on the highly competitive transatlantic route.
The entrepreneur and blogger says his company has so far bought four Airbus A380s and says he can cut costs by buying the plane instead of leasing it.
The globetrotter is no stranger to first-class travel, regularly sharing photos of himself and his fiancée, Scottish influencer Robyn Ferguson, on lavish vacations around the world.
Rhys Jones of the frequent flyer website Head for Points said the independent: ‘This is a route where frequency (multiple flights per day) is one of the most important factors in picking up lucrative business passengers, who want to travel at convenient times rather than being chained to a single daily flight.
“British Airways operates a total of 11 daily flights to New York airports via Heathrow and Gatwick, giving passengers a choice of departures.”
However, Asquith, who has been labeled by some as the next Richard Branson, does not believe his company will revolutionize air travel.
‘The name says it all in our ambitions with Global. People can be skeptical, but they always are with any plan that seems crazy.
The globetrotter is no stranger to first-class travel, regularly sharing snaps of himself and his fiancée, influential Scotsman and former flight attendant Robyn Ferguson, on luxury vacations around the world.
Born in Cuckfield, Sussex and the son of a pilot and PA, Asquith has always had big dreams and impressive business vision.
By age 12, he was washing cars on his way and saving the money he earned, he said. South China Morning Mailand then worked three jobs as a teenager.
He went on to study at the London School of Economics and invested his savings during his studies to buy a house, which he later said failed after its shares fell.
After graduation, he worked at HSBC and managed to get enough vacation time to pursue his dream of visiting every country in the world.
Asquith broke the world record for being the youngest person to travel to every country in the world at 24 years old.
He regularly posts photos of his lavish lifestyle on Instagram with his Scottish partner, former Emirates flight attendant Robyn Ferguson.
Mr. Asquith said his goal was to buy a house, but that all changed when he turned 18 and found out he was traveling alone (Pictured: Mr. Asquith aboard American Airlines)
In 2013, Asquith became the youngest person to travel to all 196 sovereign countries in the world, breaking the record in Micronesia at 24 years and 192 days.
He visited his first country outside the UK, Lithuania, in May 2001, and then every other country between July 4, 2008, and July 8, 2013. His trips cost him around £125,000.
His time travel inspired him to found Holiday Swap, an app that allows users to swap accommodation by matching up with anyone around the world, in 2018.
The company recently announced that it had secured $15 million in funding with $10 million raised at a $400 million valuation, according to Newsfile Corp.
