Business class on an Emirates 777. Photo: Emirates
An Emirates Boeing 777 plane can hold more than 350 passengers.
One traveller on a recent flight to Dubai has reportedly had the ultimate private flying experience – an entire 777 to himself.
A video posted on Twitter shows a single passenger getting on board Emirates flight EK501 from Mumbai, India.
He is greeted by the cabin crew, who give him a round of applause, before a meeting with the captain.
“Usually we do a big PA announcing the flight details, but since it’s the only one here on board, I’m going to give it to you,” said the pilot.
It’s not known where the lucky passenger ended up sitting, but hopefully, it wasn’t in economy.
It’s not been revealed why the flight was so empty, although Emirates has placed restrictions on travellers coming from Covid-hit India. Only UAE nationals, holders of UAE Golden Visas, and members of diplomatic missions are allowed on flights from India.
Aviation website One Mile At A Time speculated the service could have been full on the Dubai-Mumbai journey as the airline still transports passengers to India. It also suggested it could have been a cargo-only flight and was carrying medical supplies.
Flyers suddenly finding themselves all alone on planes isn’t new.
In 2019, a Lithuanian man flying to Italy got a pleasant surprise when he boarded the plane: He was the only passenger on the Boeing 737-800. The Novaturas travel agency said it had chartered the plane to fly a group home from Italy, and to avoid flying empty, one-way tickets were sold. Only one person bought one.
In 2016, a woman – known only as Zhang – was treated like a “rock star” on a two-hour China Southern Airlines domestic flight when she realised she was the only passenger on the plane. According to FoxNews, Zhang’s flight was delayed for 10 hours due to an unexpected snowstorm. Most of her fellow passengers had already caught another flight – leaving her as the only person on board.
In August 2015, British man Nigel Short also had the ultimate solo traveller experience having boarded an international flight to discover he was the only passenger on the plane.
Short, who boarded his Air Zimbabwe flight from Johannesburg to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, was the sole passenger on the Boeing 737 jet.
Stuff.co.nz