The father of three describes the experience of that of a private plane.
In an unexpected incident, a UK man who was travelling to Portugal to meet his family from Northern Ireland, discovered that he was the only passenger on the entire flight, as per a report in the New York Post. Sixty-five-year-old Paul Wilkinson "smelled something fishy" when there was no line at the airport gate for his Jet2 flight.
Mr Wilkinson inquired about the same at the airport, asking if it had been postponed or cancelled, but was taken aback when they informed him that he would be the only one on board, referring to him as a "VIP guest". "I spoke to the stewards waiting to take the passports, and they said, 'Oh, Mr Paul, you're VIP today... You're flying on your own'," he was quoted as saying by the Post.
He added, "I thought they were having a laugh. I thought I was early or late. I kept thinking they were going to say my flight had been cancelled."
Instead, he entered the aircraft and was addressed as "King Paul" by the flight attendants. The project manager claimed that the flight "was like his own private jet".
Before the plane took off for Belfast, he got to choose his own seat and speak with the captain. "I think it was a total one-off. They'd taken holidaymakers to Portugal and there was no one to come back and it was pure luck that I needed to go to Belfast," Mr Wilkinson recalled.
According to the outlet, Mr Wilkinson had to cancel his Portugal golf vacation so that he could go to a funeral. The father of three said that the experience was that of a private plane.
The father of three describes the experience of that of a private plane. "Someone told me a private jet is in the region of 28,000 euros (Rs 25 lakh) and it'll probably never happen again," he further said.
Mr Wilkinson enjoyed every second and said that the flight attendants were kind and that their service was "second to none". The outlet added that Mr Wilkinson received a personal safety demonstration and the event was documented with photographs. "I jokingly asked for a refund on my seat, which I paid for. It was just surreal. I went for a walk around the plane, and I had a pick of the toilets," he said.
He also did not have to stand in the queues at passport control and baggage claim after the flight. Mr Wilkinson added that the passport control officials found it hard to accept that he was the only passenger on the aircraft. Revealing the best part of the journey, the outlet stated that the entire journey cost him only $162 (approx Rs 13,000).
"It was superb, they were at my beck and call, I'm spoilt now. Next time I'll be asking how many people are on the plane," Mr Wilkinson noted.