US start-up GlobalX aims to launch flights this week

US start-up carrier GlobalX Airlines hopes to begin passenger charter flights this week. “We will put an airplane into the air and get revenue from it, if it’s by Friday or over the weekend, it will happen very, very soon,” says chief executive Ed Wegel during a 4 August investor call. “A number of people have called to see if they could be the first ones to fly with us. We will be in the air very shortly.” The airline announced earlier on 4 August that it received an aircraft operating certificate from the FAA. It is waiting final approval from the US DoT, which executives say could come as early as today. Formed by a Canadian company, Miami-based GlobalX has received FAA clearance to fly under Part 121 rules, which apply to large scheduled airlines. The airline has a single Airbus A320 and has started the process of adding a second aircraft – an A321 – to its flight certificate, it says. The carrier expects to receive two more aircraft this year – one in the third and one in the fourth quarter. Its first aircraft (registration N276GX) was manufactured in 2006 and previously operated by Frontier Airlines, according to Cirium data. Wegel says the company, which already has 121 employees, “could be at 14 airplanes by the end of 2022”, and 25 by the end of 2023.<br/>