Global Airlines appoints Hi Fly to help its A380s take off

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• yorkieflyer says:

  1 Oct1 October 06:05

  Smart move from Global, I doff my flat cap to them as a confirmed sceptic, more than slightly closer to launch I’d argue.

• JimBurgessHill says:

  1 Oct1 October 07:00

  Which airport will Global be flying from? LGW has only one A380 stand which is already occupied by Emirates three times a day. No slot pairs either up for grabs I also read.

  • Chris W says:

    1 Oct1 October 07:42

    They’ve said LGW-JFK launching from late spring next year. Surely that’s enough time for Gatwick to convert another gate?

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    1 Oct1 October 14:03

    Looks like they have 3 hours between arrival and departure so using the gate for 9 hours a day.

    So still lots of other hours for other flights to use the gate.

    LGW isn’t going to start converting gates without a good chance of it being used.

    • Chris W says:

      1 Oct1 October 14:14

      Yes but there is an EK plane on the ground between 7am and 10.30am and then again from 12.30 until 14.30 ish.

      Unless Global don’t plan to have their NYC departure until after, say, 4pm (which is unlikely), the EK A380 will be at the gate right when Global want to use it

      • Mike says:

        2 Oct2 October 02:11

        Doesn’t Virgin have a flight from Heathrow just before 6pm and one just before 8.30pm? Why would 4pm be an issue? In fact 5pm would be an 8pm arrival at JFK, 1-1.5hr for immigration and baggage and an hour to NY, 30 minutes to check-in and get to room, go out grab a snack, come back eat it, shower, and in bed at midnight. Seems perfect timing, gets you into the US time zone (EST) pretty well.

  • mkcol says:

    1 Oct1 October 15:06

    Could they pinch 2-3 remote stands at the same time as required, then release them again as individual stands when not in use?

    Has Gatwick the spare remote stand capacity to even do this? 🤷🏼‍♂️

• Chris W says:

  1 Oct1 October 07:43

  So a third hand A380, operated by Portuguese crew who couldn’t care less about anything?

  Doesn’t exactly scream luxury.

  • Alex G says:

    1 Oct1 October 13:49

    What’s wrong with a Portuguese crew?

    Screams racism.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    1 Oct1 October 14:04

    How do you know that they care less about anything?

    • Chris W says:

      1 Oct1 October 14:15

      Because I’ve flown flights operated by HiFly before. Their customers are not the passengers, rather the airlines who contract them. Customer service isn’t a top priority

      • Nick says:

        1 Oct1 October 16:56

        It is if they make it part of the contract. Much though I don’t think Global will last, I do think they’ll give it a good go.

• dan_a_man says:

  1 Oct1 October 07:54

  Why is the Park Hyatt Hamburg still in the Amex participating locations list for the 250/100 offer?

  • Rob says:

    1 Oct1 October 09:42

    I saw that!

• Novice says:

  1 Oct1 October 08:07

  Why are they focusing on US as a market. They should have learned from Virgin. They should be flying east as there’s more destinations and demand there. And, they shouldn’t try to compete from London if they really want to succeed. The only chance they have is Man as a hub.

  • Andrew J says:

    1 Oct1 October 08:10

    Yes seems an odd move as no one wants to fly to the US at the moment. Flying east would give QR and EK a bit of competition as BA seem disinterested in flying that way now.

    • Roberto says:

      1 Oct1 October 08:18

      “No one wants to fly to the US at the moment”

      I suggest that’s a million miles away from actual fact.

    • BBbetter says:

      1 Oct1 October 08:19

      lol, you really think a startup can compete against QR and EK?

      • Andrew J says:

        1 Oct1 October 08:30

        But they think they can compete against the large number of legacy carriers flying to the US?

      • dougzz99 says:

        1 Oct1 October 09:55

        I give the Saudi one a chance 😉

    • Chris W says:

      1 Oct1 October 08:50

      “Would give them a bit of competition”

      Yes, because there are no other airlines currently connecting Europe and Asia. Global with a few busted A380s will really shake up the market.

    • Harry T says:

      1 Oct1 October 09:33

      Just to be clear, have either of our transatlantic travel experts here seen the kind of loads that are presently encountered on transatlantic flights, particularly in premium cabins?

  • BBbetter says:

    1 Oct1 October 08:20

    Thank god they don’t have people like you in management.

  • Harry T says:

    1 Oct1 October 09:32

    The only reason Virgin still exists is because it primarily flies across the Atlantic. This comment does not demonstrate a reasonable understanding of the aviation industry or market, to put it mildly.

    • Novice says:

      1 Oct1 October 10:54

      @Harry T, I never said I’m an expert but my thoughts were based on the fact that when something like Covid happens and you are an airline focused on just one country then it spells disaster. Virgin started flying east when Covid hit. Just proves my point that there’s more demand there. Manchester Airport had a lot of full flights going east as soon as allowed and hardly any west.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        1 Oct1 October 13:01

        VS were flying east decades before Covid hit.

        And nor is it focussed on only one country.

        • Novice says:

          1 Oct1 October 13:31

          It is mainly flying west though.

    • mkcol says:

      1 Oct1 October 15:08

      +1

  • dougzz99 says:

    1 Oct1 October 09:57

    Distance and the number of rotation a small number of aircraft can manage.

• Andrew J says:

  1 Oct1 October 08:09

  I wonder if the IHG Amex offer will be along tomorrow – it is conspicuous with its absence from the line up at the moment.

• Errol says:

  1 Oct1 October 09:23

  The A380 has shockingly poor cargo capacity normally, and is still useless as a preighter at 68t. Not sure why Global are so keen on the A380. It is ugly, hopeless for cargo, difficult to handle and many airports, takes an age to board (from passenger perspective) and costs an airline hundreds of thousands a week if it can’t fill it so can quickly bankrupt an airline.

  • jjoohhnn says:

    2 Oct2 October 09:38

    They should have hoovered up some old 747’s for peanuts and used those. That would have made for good marketing and given a USP from the UK to the US.

• Nancy says:

  1 Oct1 October 09:28

  “After all, Hi Fly has pilots, engineers and crew that are familiar with the aircraft.”

  Is that a fact or speculation? Given they retired the A380 3 years ago, why would they keep A380 pilots (or the pilots kept their A380 license active)? Also, since it was converted to a freighter, how much of the crew is still around from the time it was a passenger plane? Personality, I believe none of the above is giving Global any particular benefit or advantage. It’s more about the SOPs, management and planning experience.

  • Nick says:

    1 Oct1 October 10:03

    You can be familiar with an aircraft even if you don’t work on it right now. Yes you might need retraining and recertifying but it’ll be much quicker and easier if you’ve done it before. BA has plenty of crews who still remember the 767 for example, and that’s been gone at least 5 years. Some engineers are still competent and rated on it even today (for third-party work).

  • jjoohhnn says:

    2 Oct2 October 09:41

    Uprating from other airbus family aircraft A320/330/340/350 to A380 is a short conversion course rather than a significant retraining. Having said that, there’s no reason they couldn’t pick off pilots from other UK airlines that heavily use Airbus to fly the fleet rather than outsourcing it…

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