A while back, the team at JFC began to hear whispers of a new airline emerging on the horizon. It’s safe to say that it sparked the interest of all of our aviation-obsessed Flight Finders, especially when it came with such an intriguing backstory — a world record-breaking, multi-millionaire, who decided to buy up a couple of ex-China Southern Airbus A380s (the double-decker planes) and take to the skies with the desire to return to the “golden age of air travel”.

And when tickets for two inaugural flights from Glasgow and Manchester to New York were finally released a few years after we’d first heard about Global Airlines, it raised some eyebrows among our fellow JFC-ers as well.

Jump forward to just over a week before the first flight took off, and our attention was grabbed once again by a surprise discount code dropping economy fares from £788 return down to £380 return — checked bag and all. At that price, curiosity got the best of me and Flight Finder Fran, and we secured our spot.

Booking

This process was a little unusual, to say the least, and probably contributed to the public uncertainty in the run-up. The flights did technically appear on Google Flights. However, they were listed under Euroairlines, and we weren’t able to click through to purchase them.

Instead, we needed to go to a separate website (ga.flights) where we could select one of only two possible date combinations from the calendar and complete our booking. It’s worth noting that we were unable to pay with American Express, but other debit/credit cards were accepted.

After booking, we received a confirmation email with a rather basic PDF attachment listing our names and travel itinerary. There was no ‘manage booking’ option on the website, so the confirmation email was all we had until we reached the airport on our departure day.

Check-in

Upon arrival at Glasgow airport, spirits were high. We headed to the check-in desk and were met with a fancy balloon display and complimentary cupcakes. James Asquith (the founder) along with other prominent members of the GA team were mingling with passengers and speaking to reporters.

We chatted with a few fellow passengers in the line; some were unbiased customers, some were aviation enthusiasts, and others were competition winners. Some even managed to bag a spontaneous biz class upgrade at the check-in counter. But everyone was curious to see how this would go.

In general, the initial check-in process for us did take a while, but this was extremely smooth on the return flight.

Flight and aircraft details

• GLA-JFK: A380 (8 first class, 70 biz class, 428 economy seats)
• JFK-GLA: A380 (8 first class, 70 biz class, 428 economy seats)

-  Upon entering, the aircraft felt roomy and spacious. The economy seats had been reupholstered from China Southern blue to Global Airlines beige. This did look smart, but may pose future staining issues since the fabric was so light in the colour. The seats felt very comfy with plenty of legroom. We appreciated the additional in-built wall storage box underneath the window on the upper deck — a feature of all A380s.

-  There’s no denying the onboard hardware was a little dated. During the flight, we noticed another passenger's head rest detach from the seat and another’s arm rest separated from the seat frame. There was also no USB charging port available in economy seats, although cabin crew were more than happy to take your phone and charge it at one of the ports in another section of the plane. The most glaring con of the aircraft during our flight, though, was the TVs. Not only did they look a little bulky and old, but they did not turn on. We were able to scan a QR code to access a library of films from our own devices, but we were unable to play them.

General Facilities

- Waiting at our seat for us was a pillow and a thick, cosy blanket. However, the star of the show was an unexpectedly full amenity kit, stuffed to the brim with branded goodies. We're talking, perfume, a hairbrush, night cream, hand cream, a pen, socks, a mirror and more! Honestly, this offering felt even more generous than what you’d expect from a typical business class. I was thoroughly impressed.

- Apart from the lack of working screens, there wasn’t an option to purchase Wi-Fi on board. This is something you’d expect from most airlines nowadays, especially ones that market themselves as a luxury experience. As expected, considering the previous two points, there were also no complimentary headphones offered.

Food

- Wow, wow, wow. I can confidently say that we were both completely blown away by the food served by Global Airlines in economy. First off, we were given a unique menu, personalised with the date and flight route. It listed three options of starters and main courses for a lunch service and another for a dinner service. Yes, just to confirm, that’s two three-course meals for a 6-ish hour flight. Including a surprise full-size snack offering — I took a family sized pack of bonbons for myself that I’m still working through a week later.

In terms of the quality of food served, it was out of this world. I know I must sound biased, but honestly, it was the best food I’ve ever eaten on a plane. The fish fell apart perfectly in my mouth, and the lemon tart was a zesty explosion.

Drinks were also offered frequently throughout the flight, with a range of both soft and alcoholic on offer.

- Listening to other passengers onboard, we did overhear some say that their food was served lukewarm, but all of our meals felt the expected temperature. The other onboard rumour we heard floating around (which was later confirmed) was the fact that business class passengers were only served one out of their two scheduled meals. Obviously, this would be a huge dealbreaker if we’d paid the premium fare, but luckily this mishap did not affect us. Our only other meal-related gripe was the excessive amount of plastic involved. Many of the small pots were wrapped in cellophane, and the cutlery was, again, all plastic.

Entertainment

Without a working TV or onboard Wi-Fi, there wasn’t much to comment on in terms of entertainment.

Although, one particularly fun aspect of our flight was the unusual amount of in-flight socialising. Many passengers struck up conversation with each other, which, in a way, did evoke a certain charm from the ‘golden age of travel’, whether you wanted to participate or not.

Staff and service

As of writing this review, Global Airlines does not possess its own Air Operator Certificate. Therefore, Hi Fly Malta operated the two inaugural flights through a wet lease arrangement.

All the staff on the ground during check-in and the onboard cabin crew were extremely friendly, attentive, and professional. Yes, the service may have been a little slow in places, but this is completely understandable considering they were new to the aircraft. There was also a slightly odd order of service, with complimentary champagne being served before take off and hot towels passed around much later on into the journey.

Aside from that, everyone’s uniforms looked fresh and smart, and they all looked very happy to be there.

Overall rating 

All in all, we had a lot of fun on both Global Airlines flights. There were clear areas for improvement, most notably the out-of-action TV screens, lack of onboard Wi-Fi and charging stations. However, even if these issues were fixed, the original price of £779 return would still feel a little steep by our JFC standards. 

But considering all the extras we received, like a checked bag, huge amenity kit and luxury meals, we would definitely consider the discount code fare of £380 return (or anything under £500 return) a good deal for this non-stop route.

It was an unusual adventure, but in many ways it still felt like an elevated travel experience. And since these are two of the first-ever GA passenger flights, we think it’s fair to keep an open mind about the improvements they could make and the snags they could iron out.

Honestly, we’re excited to see the future of this airline, and we promise to keep an eye out for more discount codes to share with our members.

Overall rating: 4/5

Bonus business class review

Despite buying economy class fares both ways, we were given an unexpected biz class upgrade at check-in on the return journey — along with many other passengers.

The first perk of this came before the flight, since Emirates had allowed Global Airlines business class passengers access to their JFK lounge, so we headed there for a bit of breakfast.

Boarding went fairly smoothly, albeit a tad behind schedule, but we were happy to settle into our new fancy seats.

At first, the configuration felt a little off. All seats faced forward and lacked full division panels to separate you from the rest of the cabin. In a way, the seats felt open but awkwardly placed if you wanted to chat to your travel companions.

The seats themselves, however, were extremely comfy. They felt spacious and luxe, with plenty of legroom. Next to each of us was a wooden side table with a little gold lamp with multiple light settings, along with a charging port. The TVs were a little larger than economy, but still did not turn on. Waiting in our seats was a pair of GA branded PJs, slippers and a slimmed down amenity kit. We think there may have actually been a mix-up with the kits, since our previous economy one was almost double the size.

As someone who has only ever flown in economy before, my first impulse after take-off was, of course, the lie-flat seat button. Mine reclined smoothly all the way to a horizontal position that I could easily sleep in. Fran’s, on the other hand, didn’t budge an inch. But, after notifying the cabin crew, she was able to switch to a functioning seat.

We also noticed that we were missing an in-flight menu. After questioning this, the cabin crew informed us that this was the case because some meal options on the original menu were no longer available. When it came time to eat, a white cloth was placed over the tables and the meals were served on real plates with metal cutlery. As with the economy service, everything tasted delicious.

Our favourite feature of the biz class experience, though, had to be the onboard Sky Pub. This opened up mid-flight, and staff allowed passengers to stand up and socialise with others around the bar. With everyone chatting away, cocktails in hand, this really did feel like a throwback to the ‘golden age of travel’. Although, we're doubtful that this could be a regular occurrence on future, busier flights. It also would have been nice to see a drinks menu, as we were all unsure what was actually on offer. 

Overall, flying in business class was a really pleasurable experience. If Global Airlines implement working TV screens and Wi-Fi, they could begin to offer a truly competitive business class service.