It was, and probably still is, one of the most talked-about airline launches.

A brand-new British airline. An Airbus A380. Three classes of travel. Caviar in Business Class. A bar upstairs. And an ambitious plan to put the superjumbo back at the heart of transatlantic travel.

I was lucky enough to be onboard when Global Airlines flew from Manchester to New York JFK in May 2025, and despite a few teething problems, I came away genuinely impressed by the experience.

Fast forward 16 months and things look rather different.

Global Airlines is now facing a winding-up petition from a creditor, while the very same Airbus A380 I flew across the Atlantic has been sitting on the ground in southern France since July last year.

So, what exactly has happened to Global Airlines?

First, it's worth remembering that Global Airlines did achieve something many people said it never would.

It actually flew.

Global's first passenger flights took place in May 2025, operating from Glasgow to New York before the airline brought its A380 to Manchester.

On the 21st May 2025, I boarded flight HFM101 from Manchester to New York JFK.

And it was quite an occasion.

Global's A380, registered 9H-GLOBL, was still largely fitted with the interior inherited from its previous operator, China Southern, but Global had started putting its own stamp on the experience.

I travelled in Business Class, after bagging a complimentary upgrade from Richard Stephenson, on the upper deck and found plenty to like. The catering in particular was excellent, with two substantial meals, while the famous Sky Pub at the front of the upper deck gave Global something genuinely different.

There were problems, of course. Some of the onboard technology wasn't working properly and it was very obvious that we were experiencing the early stages of a new operation.

But I came away feeling far more positive than I had expected.

Perhaps most importantly, the flight proved Global Airlines wasn't just an idea.

Passengers had paid money, boarded an aircraft wearing Global Airlines colours and flown across the Atlantic.

Unfortunately, that Manchester flight would also become one of only four passenger sectors the airline has operated.

Global's entire passenger flying history currently consists of two return trips to New York.

The A380 flew Glasgow to JFK on the 15th May 2025, returned on the 19th May, and then operated Manchester to JFK on the 21st May before flying back to Manchester.

Four sectors in total.

There hasn't been another Global Airlines passenger flight since.

After the Manchester operation, 9H-GLOBL headed to Dresden before eventually being flown to Tarbes in southern France on the 16th July 2025.

It remains there today.

The aircraft needs to undergo significant heavy maintenance, including its 12-year check. That isn't quite as simple as sending an aircraft into the local hangar for a few weeks.

There are limited facilities capable of performing major maintenance on the Airbus A380, and Global founder James Asquith has previously spoken about significant backlogs for suitable maintenance slots.

That presents Global with a fairly fundamental problem.

The company has built virtually its entire identity around the Airbus A380, yet its sole aircraft has now spent well over a year unable to carry passengers.

And while that A380 sits in France, another issue has emerged back in the UK.

A creditor filed a petition seeking the compulsory winding-up of Global Airlines Ltd on 29th May 2026.

The latest reporting indicates the case has already been before the Insolvency and Companies Court, with hearings taking place in July and again on the 2nd September. Separate reporting now lists a further court date for the 15th September.

This needs some important context as media outlets seem to have ran with the doomsday headline of “this is the end”.

A winding-up petition does not mean Global Airlines has gone bust.

Nor does it mean the company is currently in liquidation.

It's an application by a creditor asking the court to order a company to be wound up. The petition could ultimately be dismissed, resolved or withdrawn. Global has also reportedly faced previous winding-up petitions which did not result in the company being liquidated.

So headlines suggesting Global Airlines has already collapsed would be premature.

But it's clearly not insignificant either.

A company trying to launch an international airline already has a mountain to climb. Doing that while your only aircraft is grounded and you're simultaneously dealing with creditor action makes that mountain considerably steeper.

Perhaps surprisingly, Global Airlines hasn't given up on its plans.

Asquith has spoken about getting 9H-GLOBL back into the air before the end of 2026, adding another aircraft and even launching flights between the UK and the Maldives.

The Maldives is certainly an interesting choice.

An A380 configured around a leisure-heavy premium experience flying British holidaymakers to Malé isn't impossible to imagine. In some respects, I can actually see the appeal.

But before we start talking about new aircraft and exotic new destinations, there's a much more immediate challenge:

Global needs to get the A380 it already owns back in the sky.

As of the 4th September, it remains at Tarbes.

Having actually experienced Global Airlines rather than simply watching the story unfold from the sidelines, I probably look at the airline slightly differently.

It would be very easy to dismiss the whole thing.

Four flights in 16 months isn't an airline network. An A380 sitting in storage isn't generating revenue, and a winding-up petition is obviously not the sort of headline any start-up wants.

But I also remember boarding that aircraft in Manchester.

I remember the excitement around the gate, seeing an A380 wearing the colours of a completely new British airline, walking upstairs and seeing what Global was trying to create.

And parts of it were genuinely good.

The catering we received in Business Class was among the biggest surprises. The crew delivered a warm service, the Sky Pub was a fun idea and there was something refreshingly ambitious about the whole project.

There were things that needed fixing, absolutely. But I left JFK interested to see what Global could become once the product was polished and the airline moved beyond those initial experience flights.

Sixteen months later, I’m still waiting.

The next few weeks could be particularly important for Global Airlines.

There is now a legal process hanging over the company, its A380 needs substantial maintenance, and the airline still doesn't operate regular scheduled passenger services.

That's a very different picture from the excitement surrounding my Manchester departure last May.

But I wouldn't write the final chapter just yet.

Global Airlines has spent years doing things that plenty of people said it would never achieve. Buying an A380 sounded implausible. Getting it flying again sounded improbable. Carrying paying passengers from Manchester to New York sounded impossible.

And yet I was sitting on it when it did exactly that.

Whether Global can now turn four flights into an actual sustainable airline is a much bigger question.

For the sake of seeing another A380 in the skies, I hope we haven't seen the last of it.