The High Court of Justice in London made a winding-up order against Global Airlines Ltd on November 4, 2026, and appointed the Official Receiver as liquidator the same day, according to a notice published in The London Gazette on November 12, 2026. The order follows a petition presented on May 29, 2026.

Global Airlines Ltd, company number 13508008, is registered in London. The website of Global Airlines, the Airbus A380 startup, names James Asquith as founder and CEO and refers to Global Airlines Ltd, and Companies House lists James Edward Asquith as a director of the company since its incorporation on July 13, 2021.

What the court notices show

The Gazette notice of November 12, 2026, filed under Corporate Insolvency as a winding-up order, lists the case as No 004213 of 2026 in the High Court of Justice, with the petition filed on May 29, 2026. It names the Official Receiver, V Prime, as liquidator, with a Birmingham address.

An earlier Gazette notice, published on June 18, 2026, set out the petition. It was presented under the Insolvency Act 1986 in the Insolvency and Companies List of the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, by a petitioner based in the United States who, according to the notice, claims to be a creditor of the company. The hearing was first listed for July 15, 2026, at the Rolls Buildings in London. The notices do not state the amount claimed.

What a winding-up order means

Under UK government guidance, the court issues a winding-up order if it decides a company cannot pay its debts. An officer of the court, the official receiver, is then put in charge of winding up the company, and directors must cooperate with the official receiver. The guidance says the company’s bank account will usually be frozen and that the official receiver sells the company’s assets or property.

The company and its A380

Companies House records Global Airlines Ltd as a private limited company registered at First Floor, 3 St. Michael’s Alley, London, with a nature of business listed as agents involved in the sale of machinery, industrial equipment, ships and aircraft. Its officer list shows three active directors, two of them appointed on May 5, 2026, and four resignations. When AirPro News checked on November 13, 2026, the Companies House overview still showed the company’s status as active.

The Global Airlines website describes an airline founded in 2021 to “take passengers back to the Golden Age of Travel,” with the A380 at the center of the business. It names 9H-GLOBL as its first fully acquired A380 and says the aircraft has carried paying passengers and crossed the Atlantic multiple times. The site says 9H-GLOBL is heading to Tarbes to park after maintenance in Dresden. AirPro News has previously covered the startup’s plans to bring the A380 back for premium travel.

The website did not mention the winding-up order when AirPro News read it on November 13, 2026, and no statement from the company on the order was found.

Athens International Airport (ATH) handled 30,520,513 passengers between January and October 2026, 4.1% more than in the same months of 2025, according to provisional statistics from its operator. The total puts the Greek hub ahead of the pace of 2025, a year the operator’s chief executive described as “reaching record levels of 34 million passengers.”

The figures come from Athens International Airport S.A. (AIA), which published its October data in its “Passenger Traffic Development 2026” statistics. October alone brought 3,210,367 passengers, up 2.4% on October 2025. The comparable January to October 2025 total was 29,328,762 passengers. AIA notes that the October figures are provisional and that monthly data is finalised after the 20th of the following month.

How the year built up month by month

Both segments grew. From January to October, AIA counted 21,861,044 international passengers, up 4.1%, and 8,659,469 domestic passengers, up 3.9%. In October, international traffic rose 2.6% and domestic traffic 1.8%.

Growth varied by quarter. In its 9M 2026 Trading Update of October 27, 2026, AIA reported growth of 8.1% in the first quarter, 2.2% in the second and 4.0% in the third. January traffic rose 8.6% to 1,992,548 passengers and February rose 13.2% to 1,982,622, while April grew 1.0%, with international passengers down 0.9% that month.

In the summer, July brought 3,932,400 passengers, up 4.7%, and August 4,027,701, up 3.7%. AIA said third-quarter traffic held up despite geopolitical tensions and a two-day runway closure in September for resurfacing. September traffic reached 3,599,857 passengers, up 3.5%. The airport has two runways, 03R/21L at 13,123 feet and 03L/21R at 12,467 feet, according to the AirPro Atlas.

More passengers, lower profit

Profit moved the other way in 2026. For the nine months to September 30, 2026, AIA reported total revenues and other income of €530.0 million, up 0.6%, adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of €331.2 million, down 1.3%, and net profit of €173.5 million, down 6.6% from €185.8 million.

Revenue from air activities fell 1.0% to €393.6 million. AIA said the decline reflects a 30% temporary discount on the Passenger Terminal Facility charge, in place from October 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026, which aligns 2026 profitability with the 15% return-on-equity cap following the depletion of the Carry Forward amount. Non-air revenues rose 5.4% to €136.4 million, which the company attributed to commercial performance, the passenger mix in the Extra-Schengen area and food and beverage improvements in the Intra-Schengen area.

Operating expenses rose 4.2% to €187.6 million. AIA listed inflation, mandated minimum wage increases, added staff and outsourced resources for traffic growth, and the EU Entry-Exit System among the drivers. The company said the results are in line with its short-term targets.

A record 2025 and the expansion behind it

AIA was established on June 12, 1996, as a public-private partnership and began operations on March 28, 2001. The company, which describes itself as Greece’s largest aviation hub, holds a concession that runs until June 11, 2046.

In 2025 the airport handled 34.0 million passengers, up 6.7% from 31.9 million in 2024, according to AIA’s Financial Results for FY 2025, published on March 24, 2026. That year, Athens had direct scheduled service to 164 destination cities in 55 countries, operated by 70 airlines. In the October trading update, AIA said it ranks as the 8th most connected hub in Europe in the OAG 2026 Rankings.

Alongside the traffic growth, AIA is carrying out its expansion to 40 million passengers by 2032. The company puts the Airport Expansion Programme at approximately €1.3 billion at 2024 prices, deployed from 2025 through 2032, with up to 50% of spending expected by 2028. The plan adds approximately 150,000 square meters to the Main Terminal Building and Satellite Terminal Building, a 68% increase, along with a multi-storey car park of approximately 3,365 positions and a North-West Apron with 32 Code C aircraft stands.

What AIA expects for the rest of 2026

In its March 24 results, AIA forecast low single-digit passenger traffic growth for 2026 and projected net income of approximately €200 million. In the October 27 trading update, the company wrote: “we reaffirm our guidance for mid-single-digit passenger traffic growth in 2026.” It described the outlook for the rest of the year as relatively modest, citing elevated fuel prices.

On the expansion, AIA said in October that work on the Multi-Storey Car Park and North West Apron is progressing, that work on a new VIP facility has started and that the first apron phase is expected to finish by the end of 2026. The South Pier expansion tender was launched on October 26, 2026, with construction scheduled to begin in the second half of 2027, and a design office is being mobilised for the North Wing expansion tender.

easyJet (U2) shareholders approved the £7.15-per-share cash takeover by Apollo-backed Eagle Bidco Ltd on November 11, 2026, clearing both shareholder votes and leaving court sanction and regulatory approvals as the remaining steps before a completion that easyJet expects before the end of the first quarter of 2027.

In a regulatory announcement titled “Result of Meeting,” published on November 11, 2026, easyJet said the scheme of arrangement won 97.07% of the shares voted at the Court Meeting and 96.67% of the votes cast at the General Meeting. The deal, whose terms the boards agreed on August 6, 2026, values easyJet’s entire issued and to be issued share capital at approximately £5.7 billion, according to the original offer announcement.

How the votes were counted

The Court Meeting required a majority in number of the scheme shareholders voting, representing 75% or more in value of the shares voted. According to the announcement, 289 shareholders (83.29% by number) voted in favour and 58 (16.71%) voted against, with 13 shareholders splitting their votes and counted on both sides. In all, 334 shareholders voted 295,889,610 shares, or 39.03% of the eligible share capital. The General Meeting resolution, which also amends easyJet’s articles, needed at least 75% of the votes cast. It received 247,835,560 votes in favour out of 256,364,323, with 387,424 votes withheld.

European ownership rules shaped the count. easyJet said EU persons held 35.07% of its shares at the time of the General Meeting, and it suspended the voting rights of 233,921,894 “Affected Shares” held by non-EU persons; the poll results reflect that suspension. The company had 758,010,025 shares in issue at the Voting Record Time of 6.30 p.m. on November 9, 2026, and held none in treasury.

easyJet said the shareholder conditions, numbered 2(a) and 2(b), are now satisfied. The resolution will be filed with the Financial Conduct Authority and made available on the National Storage Mechanism.

What still has to happen

The scheme still needs the Court’s sanction and the other conditions set out when the deal was announced on August 6, 2026. That announcement listed approvals or confirmations of non-objection from the regulators of easyJet’s aviation licences, with no written notice of intent to suspend or revoke a licence; merger control approvals in Austria, Egypt, Germany and the UK; and foreign direct investment approvals in Austria, France, Italy, Malta, Spain and the UK.

The timetable is set against the date of the Sanction Hearing, which easyJet expects before the end of the first calendar quarter of 2027. The last day of dealings in easyJet shares would be one business day after the hearing, the scheme would become effective two business days after it, and the listing would be cancelled by 8.00 a.m. three business days after it. Cash consideration is due within 14 calendar days of the effective date. The Long Stop Date is 11.59 p.m. on August 6, 2027.

How the Apollo offer is structured

AirPro News reported on the £5.7 billion Apollo agreement in August. Eagle Bidco is indirectly owned by funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Capital Management, L.P. The August 6 announcement put the £7.15 price at a premium of approximately 81% to easyJet’s closing price of £3.94 on the Unaffected Date, as the announcement defines it.

Shareholders could instead choose an Alternative Offer of unlisted Rollover Shares in a Bidco parent company, one for each easyJet share, subject to a cap of 49.9% of Topco’s issued share capital and to scaling back. The Haji-Ioannou Family Concert Party gave irrevocable undertakings to vote in favour and to elect for the Alternative Offer over 116,061,871 easyJet shares, about 15.31% of the total.

The ownership plan is built around airline ownership and control rules. After completion, the August announcement said, Topco is expected to be owned 45.1% to 49.9% by Rollover Shareholders, up to 5% by an EU Trust and the balance, up to 49.9%, by the Apollo funds, with governing documents that include provisions to keep the structure compliant.

The easyJet directors, advised by Evercore, unanimously recommended that shareholders vote for the scheme and called the cash offer fair and reasonable. They made no recommendation on the Alternative Offer, saying they could not determine whether its terms were fair and reasonable. The scheme document was published on October 15, 2026.