FLIGHTS OF FANCY

Travel correspondent Simon Calder reviews his best and worst airline experiences of 2025, including a surprise No 1

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You may feel 2025 has not been the best of years. Yet for British travellers who like to fly, it has been easily the best yet since 2019 - the golden year for low fares and wide horizons. I have mostly flown on the usual suspects once again. In ascending order of frequency, I enjoyed safe, professional flights on Jet2, British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair. One of these made the "worst flights" list, but only because the plane didn't take off.

I have also experienced a number of carriers for the first time: HiSky of Romania, Middle East Airlines of Lebanon and most notably the Global Airlines maiden flight from Glasgow to New York JFK. And I surrendered A$75 (£35) at the gate to Virgin Australia - yes, my cabin baggage was seriously over the limit.

The three worst flights of the year? The trio of cancellations on British Airways, Jetstar of Australia and Vueling of Spain. All were grounded at short notice, with the initial response from each airline unsatisfactory.

BA rebooked me on Qatar Airways via Doha, but a member of ground staff agreed that I should be on a nonstop flight on Singapore Airlines to comply with air passengers' rights rules. I arrived in the city-state in time for the onward Jetstar service to Melbourne - only for that to be grounded due to pilot sickness. “Come back tomorrow”, was the message.