New airline says it’s building a superjumbo-only fleet

[reader]

From CNN

The pandemic almost killed it and its production endedsooner than anticipated in 2021, but the A380 simply refuses to die.

With more and more superjumbos soaring back into the skies amid a post-pandemic resurgence in commercial aviation, the aircraft is back in the spotlight as one new airline is built around it. Global Airlines, a British startup that aims to offer transatlantic flights starting next year, has acquired a 16-year-old A380 as the inaugural aircraft of an all-A380 fleet — at least initially — and is in the process of refurbishing the plane to its own specifications.

It’s a rare used-market move for an aircraft that passengers adore but that airlines have struggled to turn profitable due to its operating and maintenance cost, as well as its huge size.

“It’s a fantastic aircraft when you use it in the right way and on the right routes,” says Global Airlines CEO James Asquith. “We will be looking to invest significant amounts on refurbishing the A380 we already have and the future ones that we’re looking to bring into the fleet.”

Asquith previously founded Holiday Swap, a home-swapping travel platform which is also Global’s parent company, and he holds the Guinness world record for the youngest person to visit every country in the world. “I’ve flown on about 280 different airlines and sat there seeing what’s good, what doesn’t work and what can be improved,” he says. “We’ve structured this in a way that financially allows us to do a lot of the exciting things that no new airline that isn’t government-funded has been able to do in the last 40 years.”

Continues at

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/a380-global-airlines/index.html

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Best airlines for 2023

The World’s Top Airlines of 2023, according to Skytrax

1. Singapore Airlines

2. Qatar Airways

3. ANA All Nippon Airways

4. Emirates

5. Japan Airlines

6. Turkish Airlines

7. Air France

8. Cathay Pacific

9. EVA Air

10. Korean Air

11. Hainan Airlines

12. Swiss Int’l Air Lines

13. Etihad Airways

14. Iberia

15. Fiji Airways

16. Vistara

17. Qantas Airways

18. British Airways

19. Air New Zealand

20. Delta Air Lines

World’s Best Cabin Crew 2023

1. Garuda Indonesia

2. Singapore Airlines

3. ANA All Nippon Airways

4. EVA Air

5. Hainan Airlines

6. Qatar Airways

7. Cathay Pacific

8. Thai Airways

9. Emirates

10. Japan Airlines

World’s Best Low-Cost Airlines 2023

1. AirAsia

2. Scoot

3. Indigo

4. Flynas

5. Volotea

6. Transavia France

7. Sun Country Airlines

8. Southwest Airlines

9. airBaltic

10. Jet2.com

11. easyJet

12. Vueling Airlines

13. Ryanair

14. Jetstar Airways

15. flyDubai

https://edition.cnn.com/travel/skytrax-world-airline-awards-2023/index.html

 

 

 

 

[PeterRS]

I'm delighted the A380 will not end up in the graveyards to which it was due to be consigned pre-covid. But the trans-Atlantic route has been a veritable graveyard for start up airlines. Starting, I believe, with Sir Freddie Laker's Skytrain cheap daily flights across the Atlantic in 1977. In its first year it was a major success and Laker expanded his fleet of DC10s. The 80% capacity was well ahead of the 50% break-even. But Laker had not considered the dirty tricks thrown into the airline's path by the established carriers, especially BA, Pan Am and TWA. There were many reasons for Skytrain going bust, the conspracy of the legacy carriers being just one. Laker expanded too quickly, public confidence in the DC10 dropped after 2 flown by Turkish and American Airlines had crashed with the loss of all lives, undercapitalisation and others. The legacy carriers later admitted to conspiring to put Skytrain out of business and Laker won £85 million in damages.

BA's dirty tricks campaign was repeated when Virgin Atlantic started up as a full service trans-Atlantic carrier. BA was determined to put it out of business. Virgin sued and won damaghes, costs against BA and a public apology. 

Several trans-Atlantic all business class airlines have started up betwen the UK and USA. Eos, MAXjet airlines and Silverjet all had their brief moment in the sun before going bust. Only BA now runs a 737 as an all-business class flight, but it has a brief stop at Shannon in Ireland for customs and passport checks to make the trip faster and more convenient.

According to the media release, Global will have a 3 class product - first, business and economy - and a total of 484 seats. This compares to 620 on an Emirates 2-class A380. With one flight a day at the outset, it has no way of competing with the legacy carriers - BA has 12 daily London/New York flights and in total there are a whopping 36 daily flights! Global will have zero flexibility. Will the passengers who really make the profits - those business passengers up front - be prepared to pay premium prices when all manner of delays might strike their flight? I hope Global succeeds, but I fear it may end up as yet another graveyard start-up. 

[reader]

Flew on Laker’s airline to UK for Silver Jubilee. It was my first trip to Europe and spent the 10 days getting to know and appreciate London. 

As you point out, the new venture is ambitious but fraught with headwinds. With only a very small fleet, maintenance and other issues that the majors can handle can rapidly become a millstone.

[fedssocr]

I agree that LGW to New York and LA seems like a recipe for disaster. Too much competition already on those routes. This doesn't really sound serious to me.

Since there are no new A380s to be built it will be interesting to see how long these planes keep flying. I'm guessing that spare parts and maintenance will be the biggest issues for most carriers. Given the current pilot shortage issues, large aircraft like this will be important for the industry. And with the 777-X so far behind schedule there's going to be problems for several years to come.

[PeterRS]

2 hours ago, fedssocr said:

Since there are no new A380s to be built it will be interesting to see how long these planes keep flying. I'm guessing that spare parts and maintenance will be the biggest issues for most carriers.

The aircraft was designed to handle 19,000 take-off/landing cycles. That is estimated to be around 25 years. Since Singapore Airlines received the first of the aircraft in 2007, in theory it should take that hull up to 2032 and beyond for later models. But many aircraft exceed their design capacity. Most airlines who flew the MD11 successor to the ill-fated DC10 ceased doing so by 2005. Yet more than 100 are still flown today by cargo carriers like Fedex.

With so many A380s now coming back into service, I'd have thought that servicing for Global Airlines will be farmed out. No idea about avaiability of parts. If the airlines intend to keep the plane flying for serveral years, I wonder if Airbus would open up a factory to cover new parts to avoid bastardising older models.

[vinapu]

9 minutes ago, PeterRS said:

to avoid bastardising older models.

I like that sentence

[vinapu]

12 hours ago, reader said:

Best airlines for 2023

The World’s Top Airlines of 2023, according to Skytrax

1. Singapore Airlines

2. Qatar Airways

3. ANA All Nippon Airways

 

 

having flown Qatar recently to and from LOS and it was my first experience with airline I'm bit surprised with such high position. Not that anything was wrong or did not work , no all was good , but for me it seemed just normal airline. Flew ANA last year and they kind of impressed me and so did Swiss in Dec 2021. But all those were just one statistic samples so I'm just saying...

[fedssocr]

QR gets high marks because their business class "suites" product is quite good. But other airlines are certainly catching up in that department. I think people also like DOH airport as well. Their lounges there are pretty spectacular. Skytrax isn't exactly known for objectivity so there's probably a decent amount of cash changing hands.

I like ANA a lot too. Will be even better when they finish replacing their older seats with a better product. Their business class is fine except for the complete lack of storage which I make it a point to complain about every time I fly with them. 🙂

[floridarob]

When I hear someone saying that the US is the greatest country in the world, I like to show them a list like this or this clip from Newsroom:
 

 

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, floridarob said:

When I hear someone saying that the US is the greatest country in the world, I like to show them a list like this or this clip from Newsroom:
 

greatest or not , still magnet for many,

Thailand isn't greatest but still magnet for many,  including Americans.

What it even means greatest country in the world ? I doubt even such country exists. The same question should be asked about airlines. And the same doubt remains

[PeterRS]

11 hours ago, vinapu said:

having flown Qatar recently to and from LOS and it was my first experience with airline I'm bit surprised with such high position

@fedssocr is, I think, correct in suggesting Skytrax is not known for its objectivity. Even so, when you look at the Skytrax flight review site it is obvious that Qatar does get higher marks than almost every other airline. Last year it topped the Airline of the Year Poll about 7th time and there has to be some reason for that. I have flown it between BKK and the UK about 7 times now and its business class is certainly extremely good, the more so if you get one of the Q Suites. 

My view is that only large international airlines have any chance of being named Airline of the Year as their customer base is likely to provide the most responses. The top 6 have very extensive route networks. Yet that said, it doesn't explain how Hainan Airlines with its smaller route structure makes the lists. From what I read, it is clearly an excellent airline and gets a very high 8 rating in the Skytrax reviews section. But the last passenger review is almost 2 years old and the parent company declared bankruptcy 2 years ago. The airline was one of the four separate companies which emerged. The international financier George Soros has been a shareholder in the airline since 1995. I can only assume the in flight experience remains extremely fine.

I no longer fly in the USA. I see Delta has been creeping up the annual Poll. In 2015 it was #45. By 2020 it was up to #30. Now it's #24. I wonder what it has been doing right.

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

 

My view is that only large international airlines have any chance of being named Airline of the Year as their customer base is likely to provide the most responses

.....

. I see Delta has been creeping up the annual Poll.  I wonder what it has been doing right.

Now I know why Air Gambia is not on the list

......

as for Delta , perhaps they started  departing and arriving on time ?

 

[fedssocr]

I have flown DL a few times in the past several years. Their planes are a little more comfortable than this US competition (on short haul domestic routes anyway). Their crews are pleasant. They are one of the few that still provides seatback entertainment rather than requiring you to use your own device connected to wifi. And my flights have been on time. Although they have had some pretty big issues with various outages at ATL which is their main hub. If they offered direct flights on the routes I fly I would much prefer them over AA, but having to connect in ATL adds a lot of time to my trip when I can just fly AA nonstop. 

[unicorn]

11 hours ago, vinapu said:

......

as for Delta , perhaps they started  departing and arriving on time ?

They may not be as good as some of the top foreign airlines, but Delta appears to have the best on-time arrival data among North American airlines. I usually fly American Airlines, but occasionally I do fly Delta, which is generally overall rated the best US carrier (American not that far behind).

[reader]

4 hours ago, unicorn said:

They may not be as good as some of the top foreign airlines, but Delta appears to have the best on-time arrival data among North American airlines. I usually fly American Airlines, but occasionally I do fly Delta, which is generally overall rated the best US carrier (American not that far behind).

Had occasion to fly Delta twice in past year on short-haul routes. Doors closed and opened on time and economy seats quite comfortable. 
==================

From CNN

A flurry of new international flight routes from the US

One of the strongest indicators of how the tourism industry continues to court American travelers: newly launched airline routes and expanded service to the States. Although air travel demand has been growing globally since most pandemic restrictions have been lifted, tapping into the lucrative US market remains a top priority for many airlines, including both major carriers and budget operators.

“Opening new routes is immediately an opportunity for DMCs to target those audiences,” Chaulet says.

This June, British Airways started a new route from Cincinnati to London – an immensely popular destination for American travelers, especially royals watchers, over the last year – operating with a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on five weekly flights during the summer (and four in the winter).

American travelers keen to experience New Zealand can take advantage of Qantas’s just-launched service from New York’s JFK to Auckland with three weekly flights, also on the Dreamliner. In addition, according to Allison, of Tourism Australia, airline seat capacity between the US and Australia is projected to reach 88% of pre-pandemic levels with 123 flights per week by the end of 2023.

Turkish Airlines and Emirates also continue to expand their US routes. Turkish’s four-times-weekly service from Seattle to Istanbul launched in 2022, with Detroit and Denver slated to start in Q4 of 2023. And this April, Emirates launched the first-ever service from Newark to Dubai, a 14-hour journey.

Meanwhile, the budget carrier segment is booming with new airlines and routes that service the States popping up with increasing regularity. One of the original players, French bee, launched in 2016 with nonstop flights from the US to Paris and Tahiti and has since expanded its US network significantly, with three additional routes from New York, Los Angeles, and Miami to Paris launched in 2021 and 2022.

 

 

[PeterRS]

2025 will see Qantas operate the world's longest non-stop flights - Sydney to London and Sydney to New York. The longer London flight will have a time of 20 hours on an Airbus A350-1000. The aircraft will have six first class seats in a 1-1-1 configuration, 52 business class in 1-2-1, 40 Premium Economy in 2-4-2 and 140 economy in 3-3-3. New seats have been designed for the economy cabin with one inch longer leg room to give 33 inches. Economy will also have "wellness zones" with stretch bars for exercise.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/qantas-reveals-economy-seats-for-19hour-nycsydney-ultra-longhaul-flights/e973d9d3-a0a7-4689-b795-b12e82a1d617