A Saudi investment group, Kingdom Holding Company, is eying an ownership stake in Global Airlines (London City). New investment from the Middle Eastern conglomerate would enable the British start-up to grow its A380-800 fleet from one to four aircraft, Aviation Week reported citing a source familiar with the matter.

The company confirmed on its LinkedIn profile that it is "in talks with various organisations about our future" regarding various segments of its business, including finance. However, it did not confirm whether Kingdom Holding Company or any other entity is interested in acquiring an ownership stake.

Kingdom Holding Company and Global Airlines did not respond to inquiries from ch-aviation.

The report said that the investment would also lead Global to pivot from its proposed scheduled flights across the Atlantic to the ACMI market, focusing on Hajj operations. However, the start-up strongly denied this part of the report.

"We’re not planning to change any strategy to become an ACMI operator," Global Airlines posted on its LinkedIn profile. "We still have our eye on the ultimate goal of becoming a scheduled airline in the future, but we recognise there are still a lot of things to tackle on that journey."

News about the potential Saudi investment come only a month after Knighthood Global, a consultancy and investment firm, announced plans to acquire an ownership stake in Global Airlines. Knighthood Global was contracted by the UK-based start-up company to "provide key strategic advice and support."

Ihtg Limited, formerly known as Holiday Swap Group Limited, currently holds over 75% of the company's shares. James Asquith, the founder and the chief executive of Global Airlines, is the majority owner of Ihtg Limited, while the other shareholders are not publicly disclosed.

Global Airlines inaugurated its first flight from Glasgow International to New York JFK on May 15. As the company does not have an AOC, the flight was operated by its ACMI partner Hi Fly Malta. After conducting another rotation between Manchester and New York, the Global Airlines-owned A380-800 (9H-GLOBL, msn 120) was ferried to Dresden on May 26, where it remains stored.

The company plans to obtain a UK AOC in the future.