Well folks, it’s sort of review time I guess. I wanted to talk about my aviation experiences of 2025 during my round the world trip. I don’t know how many flights I took, but the most I have taken for a very long time in a single trip, probably since my first overseas trip in 1999.

Let’s see, I flew these following airlines in 2025 – Air New Zealand, Latam, Avianca, American Airlines, British Airways, Wizz Air, Aegean Airlines, Austrian Airlines, KLM, Malawi Airlines, Saffair, Singapore Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Air Asia and finally, Philippine Airlines.

Yes, it’s a ridiculously long list. Most of the flights were economy, a few in Business Class and my first experience of Premium Economy when I flew British Airways from Jamaica to London Gatwick. To be honest with you, I can’t think of a really bad flight in there. I was a little disappointed with the upgrades I received on Avianca, and I got tired of the same or similar aircraft (A320s mostly, but that’s what they all use these days) but all in all the flying experience wasn’t bad.

There was check in at Panama City Airport where I had to book onward travel to be allowed to check in for the flight to El Salvador, and the airport terminal (1) at Manila was a shockingly cramped experience, but I have to say flying in 2025 was okay.

So the best flight? It has to be Malawi Airlines. One of many airlines I flew for the first time last year, and this was a two leg affair from Nairobi to Lilongwe and then Lilongwe to Harare in Zimbabwe. The views on both flights were just breathtaking and so memorable, firstly flying over the mountains on the border of Kenya and Tanzania and (I think) seeing Kilimanjaro in the early morning, WOW! And then the views over Mozambique into Zimbabwe from Malawi were also incredible.

The second of the flights was on a Q400 turbo prop Bombadier Dash 8. Loud as all hell, I looked out of my window onto the propeller which looks very strange when you take a photo! It was a real experience, and I used to dread smaller planes but now I love them because it is such a different experience than taking, say… an Airbus A320. The food was okay and service friendly, and there was a bit of walking across tarmac as well especially in Lilongwe which was also cool. Okay, not business class, to ultra perfect service, but not bad!

As for the worst, well, that’s hard because no flight stood out to me as being dreadful. I took a number of budget airlines, but they all seemed to function well and I must admit I got some great views out the windows on a number of flights. Wizz Air in Europe I took twice and I thought they did all right. My biggest delay was in Jamaica on BA, but that was due to an ill passenger. And that was only a little over 2 hours. Philippine Airlines cancelled my first flight (2 legs, Jakarta – Manila – Melbourne) and moved me from an afternoon to an overnight, giving me two overnights with 14 hours at Manila, and this was, well, grr!

But perhaps the worst experience was the INSIDE of the planes on Malawi Airlines, with foam pushing out of the seats. The planes were just old and worn and needed a refit. And I didn’t see anything quite as bad as that, but the thing is – it didn’t really detract from the rest of the experience which I thought was awesome. Oh, KLM left my baggage in Amsterdam and I had to go get it myself from Kigali Airport at my own expense. At 10pm at night. BUT it was only one day later. It’s only the second or third time EVER for me that my checked luggage didn’t arrive with me, and considering the number of flights and connections I have had over the years, that’s VERY lucky.

So yeah, had to pick a worst flight. I would fly all those airlines again I would say. Some I might not have any need to and I now find that I actively look for new airlines to fly on routes I’ve done before especially, but also in general. Singapore I think still takes the cake for me. I totally avoided the Middle East last year which is rare on a round the world trip now that I think about it. No Emirates or Qatar for me.

Anyways, thanks for reading today. It’s really a bit of a self indulgent post I guess. I have really grown to love air travel, where as 15 years ago it was pretty much the thing I dreaded most about travel! Thanks again, take care wherever you are in the world and, May the Journey Never End!