Global International Airways

Global International Airways, formed in 1981, was an airline company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Also known as GIA, Global International began seasonal charter flights to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Paris using Boeing 707 aircraft, in 1981. Global also used Boeing 727s for charters to the Caribbean and from 1983 it used a Boeing 747-133. The airline became deeply involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, making many of the shipments of illegal arms. It was financed by a number of unsecured loans totaling $600,000 from the Indian Springs State Bank, at the instigation of Farhad Azima. Global filed for bankruptcy in 1983, its bad loans being a major factor in the closing of Indian Springs a year later in 1984.