The UK High Court of Justice has issued a mandatory order of liquidation for A380-800-focused start-up Global Airlines (London City), a filing published in the UK gazette reveals.
The order was dated November 4, 2026, and published online on November 12. As part of the winding up process, the court has named a liquidator who will now dispose of Global Airlines’ existing assets.
The start-up carrier briefly launched operations in 2025, with Hi Fly Malta (3L, Malta International) operating its sole aircraft, A380-800 9H-GLOBL (msn 120), which Global Airlines purchased before its launch.
However, aircraft has been parked at Lourdes/Tarbes since July 2025, and Global Airlines founder James Asquith previously said maintenance capacity issues were preventing a relaunch of operations. Earlier reports suggested that Global Airlines wanted to relaunch as a specialist serving the Maldives, in contrast to its initial plans of being a premium transatlantic carrier.
The 14.1-year-old A380-800, equipped with Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 970-84 engines, was first delivered to China Southern Airlines in 2013 and entered Hi Fly Malta’s fleet in early 2024, ch-aviation data shows.
The liquidation order comes after a creditor petitioned to wind up Global Airlines in May 2026. ch-aviation reached out to Global Airlines at the time but did not receive a comment. The start-up had not issued any announcements on its website or social media accounts regarding the liquidation by the time of publication.
Global Airlines never held an air operator's certificate (AOC). According to the UK business registry, it is owned by Ihtg Limited, a UK-based company that controls over 75% of the shares and voting rights in the virtual carrier. Asquith is the majority owner of Ihtg Limited.
