British Instagram influencer behind the world’s newest airline: Entrepreneur launches Global Airlines which says it has bought four Airbus A380s and wants to rival Virgin and BA with transatlantic trips from the Spring

• James Asquith, 34, founded Holiday Swap and has over 1m Instagram followers
• He holds the world record for being youngest person to travel to every country

A travel entrepreneur and influencer is launching a new airline company with a fleet of double-decker jets which he says will bring back the ‘golden age’ of flying.

James Asquith regularly shares his jet set lifestyle with his more than 1million Instagram followers and holds the world record for being the youngest person to travel to every country in the world.

The 34-year-old from London is known for founding Holiday Swap, an app dubbed ‘Travel Tinder’, which sees homeowners from around the world match to go on vacation in each other’s homes. 

Now he has launched Global Airlines, which says it has four jumbo jets and hopes to take on the likes of Virgin Atlantic and British Airways on the highly-competitive transatlantic route.

The SuperJumbo, or Airbus A380, is the world’s largest passenger jet and beloved by plane fanatics, but is increasingly scarce with just 261 ever built and production coming to a halt in 2021. 

James Asquith, 34, has launched Global Airlines, which plans to fly SuperJumbo jets from Gatwick to New York by next Spring

Asquith regularly shares his jetset lifestyle with his more than 1million Instagram followers

The airliners, which cost roughly $450million each, could fly hundreds of business class and economy travellers at a time between Gatwick and New York and would offer customers a space for socialising on board.

Asquith is said to be taking advantage of the industry falling out of love with the planes by buying them up, second hand, at a lower price.

The businessman and blogger says his company has so far purchased four, and claims that he can cut costs by buying up the aircraft rather than leasing them as most airline companies do.

Global Airlines is hoping to fly passengers from London Gatwick to New York as early as next Spring. Gatwick Airport has not yet confirmed this to MailOnline.

It would be no mean feat, as no other A380s currently serve the route and the plane is seen by commercial airline companies as too expensive to fuel and tricky to park.

This has led to widespread scepticism from industry experts that the plan will take off. 

‘The aviation industry is full of dreamers who want to fly the skies and bring competition, but it’s hard,’ Paul Charles, former communications director at Virgin Atlantic, told Sky News.

Global Airlines says it has four jumbo jets and hopes to take on the likes of Virgin Atlantic and British Airways on the highly-competitive transatlantic route

The businessman and blogger says his company has so far purchased four Airbus A380s, and claims that he can cut costs by buying up the aircraft rather than leasing them

The globetrotter is no stranger to first-class travel himself, regularly sharing snaps of himself and his fiancee, Scottish influencer Robyn Ferguson, on luxurious holidays around the world

READ MORE: Jet-setter, who ‘loves airplane food’ showcases 15 years of first class meals while globe-trotting over four MILLION miles on 2,000 flights 

Asquith has reviewed his different in-flight feasts (Pictured: Food served to Mr Asquith in Emirates Airlines first class)

Rhys Jones of the frequent-flyer website Head for Points told the Independent: ‘This is a route where frequency – multiple flights a day – is one of the most important factors to pick up lucrative business passengers, who want to travel at convenient times rather than be chained to a single daily flight.

‘British Airways operates a total of 11 daily flights to New York airports across Heathrow and Gatwick, giving passengers a choice of departures.’ 

Asquith however, who has been labelled the next Richard Branson by some, is defiant that his company will revolutionise air travel.

‘The name says it all in our ambitions with Global. People can be sceptics, but they always are with any plan that sounds like it’s crazy.’

The globetrotter is no stranger to first-class travel himself, regularly sharing snaps of himself and his fiancee, Scottish influencer and former flight attendant Robyn Ferguson, on luxurious holidays around the world. 

Born in Cuckfield, Sussex and the son of a pilot and PA, Asquith has always had big dreams and impressive business acumen.

Aged 12, he washed cars on his road and saved up the money he made, he told South China Morning Post, and later worked three jobs as a teenager.

He went on to study at the London School of Economics and invested his savings during his studies to buy a house, which he said later fell through after his shares went down.

After graduating, he worked at HSBC and managed to get enough leave to pursue his dream of visiting every country in the world.

Asquith broke the world record for being the youngest person to travel to every country in the world aged 24

He regularly posts pictures of his lavish lifestyle on Instagram alongside his Scottish partner, former Emirates flight attendant Robyn Ferguson

Mr Asquith said he aimed to buy a house but that all changed when he turned 18 and discovered solo travel (Pictured: Mr Asquith onboard American Airlines)

In 2013, Asquith became in the youngest person to travel to all 196 sovereign countries in the world, breaking the record in Micronesia aged 24 years and 192 days old.

He visited his first country outside of the UK, Lithuania, in May 2001, and then every other country between 4 July 2008 and 8 July 2013. His travels cost him around £125,000. 

His time travelling inspired him to found Holiday Swap, an app which allows users to swap accommodation by matching up with anyone around the world, in 2018.

The company recently announced it had secured $15million in funding with $10 million raised at a $400 million valuation, according to Newsfile Corp.

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