Yahoo Finance The OnlyFans millionaire backing an attempt to take on British Airways
A co-founder of OnlyFans is backing an airline startup that wants to rival British Airways.
Tom Stokely, a member of the Essex family that launched the adult subscription site, has emerged on the board of Global Airlines – a new carrier hoping to offer flights from London Gatwick to New York and Los Angeles.
Stokely, his brother Tim and father, Guy, set up OnlyFans in 2016. The subscription website, which is known for hosting adult content, saw explosive growth during the pandemic.
The Stokelys sold off a majority stake to US-based porn baron Leonid Radvinsky in 2019 for an undisclosed price. OnlyFans made a profit of £36m on subscription revenues of £1.7bn in the year of the sale.
During his time at OnlyFans, Tom Stokely served as the platform’s chief operating officer. The money he made from the site has since allowed Stokely to acquire shares in Global Airlines.
The business was founded three years ago by James Asquith, a former banker who broke the Guinness World record as the youngest person to fly to all 196 sovereign nations.
Stokely is also a former banker and first crossed paths with Asquith last year when he joined the advisory board of his travel business, Holiday Swap.
At the time of his appointment, Holiday Swap – an app that lets homeowners around the world rent each others’ properties – hailed Stokely as a “skilful businessman” who had previously worked at a “major company” as chief operating officer. OnlyFans was not mentioned.
Unlike his brother, Tim, who has flaunted his wealth on social media, Tom has largely kept a low profile.
His role at Global Airlines has emerged as the start-up prepares to mount what many see as an audacious attempt to rival established carriers. Flights from London to New York would put the carrier in direct competition with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, which dominate the route.
In interviews, Asquith has vowed to bring back the “golden age” of travel, frequently recalling memories of seeing his father, a pilot, donning his captain’s uniform before jetting off.
He has vowed to reinstate the glamour of travel through Global Airlines, promising to “revolutionise commercial flying” and make passengers “feel like a million dollars”.
Details of how he will do this remain thin but Global Airlines has said it will serve passengers Laurent-Perrier champagne on board and provide first-class customers with a chauffeur service straight to the airport.
“For the past 20 years, everybody has done the same thing, which is have this race to the bottom on price,” he told The Times last year.
“Perks get taken away. You see the US carriers now and their loyalty programmes just get stripped. Year after year it gets worse and worse. Because everyone is drinking the same Kool-Aid.”
Some observers have said Asquith’s plans will breathe life into the transatlantic route. However, others question whether Global Airlines will ever fly passengers at all, given the costs and high regulatory hurdles associated with launching.
John Strickland, an aviation consultant, says: “There are two sides to it. There’s an enormous list of challenges and the majority of startups never make it. But having met him, I think if anybody has a chance to do it then he’s got that chance.
“He’s conscious of the challenge but strikes me as someone who is very determined and in the process of getting people around him who have the right expertise.”
Dubai-based Asquith has so far built a fleet of four Airbus A380s, which he claimed to have acquired from German investment firm Doric last year.
Global Airlines hoped to have at least one of these super jumbo jets in operation by spring 2024, flying passengers across the Atlantic just three years after the company’s launch.
However, the start-up has since pushed back this goal and is now considering using its planes as a charter service for major events, such as the upcoming 2026 World Cup in the US.
A spokesman said: “Our intention is to commence with charter flights later in 2024 with scheduled services from the UK following that.
“We expect to operate our first round of passenger services in the next 12 months. However, we, like many other companies in aviation, have encountered some delays with our partners and multiple supply chain issues which we continue to work around and find solutions to.”
As for Stokely’s involvement in the project, which now involves around 100 people, there are more questions than answers as to what he will be responsible for.
Regardless, Stokely and Asquith face a mammoth task to get Global Airlines off the ground.
“To my mind, it’s still the devil’s own job to get there,” Strickland says, before adding: “I look back at my career and I thought Emirates and easyJet weren’t going to work. What do I know?”
