Charter carrier Global Crossing Airlines has received approval from US aviation authorities to grow its fleet to 20 Airbus A320-family aircraft from its current maximum of 16 jets.
The Miami-based cargo and passenger carrier, which operates as GlobalX, said on 3 April that receiving expanded fleet authorisation from the US Department of Transportation (DOT) will allow it to add two A320s and two A321s – all passenger aircraft – for the upcoming summer travel season.
The fleet expansion is still subject to approval by the Federal Aviation Administration. GlobalX did not indicate when the jets would be delivered.
Growing its fleet of leased passenger jets will “strengthen GlobalX’s refocused strategy to expand its ACMI passenger charter business”, the company says.
Following the February departure of founding chief executive Ed Wegel, GlobalX’s management team has signalled intentions to prioritise passenger charters over growing freight operations.
“This increased authorisation is a key step in our path to sustained profitability and achieving our goal to become America’s largest charter airline, setting the industry high mark for on-time performance and reliability,” says Chris Jamroz, executive chairman of GlobalX.
GlobalX last month signalled that it now plans to grow its fleet to 35 aircraft by the end of 2026, rather than its previous goal of eventually operating 50 aircraft, which president Ryan Goepel called “a much more measured and much more achievable growth target”.
The start-up carrier launched in August 2021 and since aggressively expanded its fleet of narrowbody Airbus jets.
