Only passenger on a flight
Couple of near misses
1974 one of three pax on KLM DC8 flying Bahrein to Amsterdam, Dutch out of favour with some arabs some avoided by some.
i was 24 other two were 70 plus
a lot of 'can i sit next to you for a while and practice my English from the lovely KL hosties-very nice after 10 months in Qatar.
1992 one of two pax on LH F50, Arlanda to Templehof , other guy miserable and sat at back reading documents, I am leaning into aisle to look at the open cockpit door and FO says-hi are you interested in flying -why not come up and sit with us. Stayed there for landing into Templehoff too.
So never been the only one on board but close and great 'added benefits' too
PB
1974 one of three pax on KLM DC8 flying Bahrein to Amsterdam, Dutch out of favour with some arabs some avoided by some.
i was 24 other two were 70 plus
a lot of 'can i sit next to you for a while and practice my English from the lovely KL hosties-very nice after 10 months in Qatar.
1992 one of two pax on LH F50, Arlanda to Templehof , other guy miserable and sat at back reading documents, I am leaning into aisle to look at the open cockpit door and FO says-hi are you interested in flying -why not come up and sit with us. Stayed there for landing into Templehoff too.
So never been the only one on board but close and great 'added benefits' too
PB
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Snow screwed up ops at Chicago O'Hare while I was connecting there to SFO. Missed my connection. Everyone told me there were no more flights to SFO that night and I was practically out the door when I heard a last call for boarding for a United flight to SFO! Wound up on a 747 that had been delayed about seven hours since 3 pm and was finally departing around 10 pm. Ran to the gate, door was already closed, plane still sitting there, and someone from the next gate opened the door for me. Got on to find only about 20 people on board. Everyone else chose to take earlier flights. Yes, this all occurred before today's security theater. Must have been around 1984 or 5.
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Just me and my wife on an EgyptAir 737 from Tel Aviv to Cairo, 1995 or so. Very strange experience. Plane was a completely unmarked white-tail, operated by some notional subsidiary of EgyptAir created just for that route. Long distance politically, but short flight. When we arrived in Cairo, they couldn't get the door open, so we sat in the first row and watched while burly people outside on the air stairs pushed and thumped, rocking the empty plane back and forth.
CH3CH2OH
This was quite a few moons ago when BA were running the 'Shuttle' product and would have a standby airframe if the first one was full, or something like that.
I boarded an EDI - LHR flight to find that there were two occupied seats other than mine, former Goodie Tim Brooke-Taylor in one and his Golf Clubs in the other.
I boarded an EDI - LHR flight to find that there were two occupied seats other than mine, former Goodie Tim Brooke-Taylor in one and his Golf Clubs in the other.
cymmon....
......it was a rear engined twin entered by a set of steps right at the rear between the engines. Is there another a/c with that configuration? Does a Caravelle do that, maybe?? It was a long time ago.....
The Ancient Mariner
The Ancient Mariner
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Have not had the luck of some of the posters on here, but below are a couple of tales.
EK Saigon / HCM to DXB just after service started. 2 of us in Business, 30 in the back on 777.
When working for an American company we had to move some materials from Houston to the UK and could not wait for them to go by ship due to penalty clauses, and there was too much to go on the weekly 747 KLM Combi. Talked to my then boss, and we hit on the plan of hiring 2nr DC8 freighters from a company in Kansas who came down to pick up the materials. I was due to go back to the UK and asked if I could travel with them, to which the reply was an affirmative. I boarded and asked the Captain where I could sit, only to be told by him "this is your air force sit where you like other than these 3 seats (pointing at his, FO, and ENG)" I have a picture on the ramp at Houston at home somewhere, with me stood in front of the two planes at sunset with a White Board Reading "Mr Mac,s Airforce 19th August 1988" Rode all the way home in the Jump Seat. Different times as they say.
Regards
Mr Mac
EK Saigon / HCM to DXB just after service started. 2 of us in Business, 30 in the back on 777.
When working for an American company we had to move some materials from Houston to the UK and could not wait for them to go by ship due to penalty clauses, and there was too much to go on the weekly 747 KLM Combi. Talked to my then boss, and we hit on the plan of hiring 2nr DC8 freighters from a company in Kansas who came down to pick up the materials. I was due to go back to the UK and asked if I could travel with them, to which the reply was an affirmative. I boarded and asked the Captain where I could sit, only to be told by him "this is your air force sit where you like other than these 3 seats (pointing at his, FO, and ENG)" I have a picture on the ramp at Houston at home somewhere, with me stood in front of the two planes at sunset with a White Board Reading "Mr Mac,s Airforce 19th August 1988" Rode all the way home in the Jump Seat. Different times as they say.
Regards
Mr Mac
So did the One-Eleven, of course, but needless to say they never had any of those.
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But, in typical PPRuNe fashion, 
we have moved away from the original point of the thread: ONLY PASSENGER ON A FLIGHT.
Further to my Air Anglia experience, digging a little further, I also made solo "passenger" status on:
-Orion Airways B737-300 positioning flight from Manchester to Birmingham
-Rosenbalm Aviation (Emery) DC-8 70 series cargo from Maastricht to Manchester
-Aviaco DC-9 positioning from Tenerife to Las Palmas
-Air Europe Express Shorts 360 cargo flight from Birmingham to Maastricht
-Britannia Airways B737-200 positioning flight from Birmingham to Monastir
-Air Kent PA-31 Navajo on a scheduled (short-lived) Brussels to Manston flight
-Condair FK-27 cargo flight from Luton to Maastricht
And a few more still, but I've bored you all enough as it is!
There were also flights where 1 or 2 of my colleagues and I were the only passengers on the flight (generally positioning flights).
we have moved away from the original point of the thread: ONLY PASSENGER ON A FLIGHT.Further to my Air Anglia experience, digging a little further, I also made solo "passenger" status on:
-Orion Airways B737-300 positioning flight from Manchester to Birmingham
-Rosenbalm Aviation (Emery) DC-8 70 series cargo from Maastricht to Manchester
-Aviaco DC-9 positioning from Tenerife to Las Palmas
-Air Europe Express Shorts 360 cargo flight from Birmingham to Maastricht
-Britannia Airways B737-200 positioning flight from Birmingham to Monastir
-Air Kent PA-31 Navajo on a scheduled (short-lived) Brussels to Manston flight
-Condair FK-27 cargo flight from Luton to Maastricht
And a few more still, but I've bored you all enough as it is!
There were also flights where 1 or 2 of my colleagues and I were the only passengers on the flight (generally positioning flights).
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Sorry Rossian, I wasn't trying to be funny but I couldn't remember air Inter operating the DC-9, thought it might have been a lease.
But definitely a Caravelle.
I'm not 100% sure but not sure if it was Air Inter that had a BAC 1-11 on a very short term lease. I'm sure I will be proven wrong on this one.
But definitely a Caravelle.
I'm not 100% sure but not sure if it was Air Inter that had a BAC 1-11 on a very short term lease. I'm sure I will be proven wrong on this one.
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In the early 90's I was the only passenger on an Icelandair 737 from Keflavik to Newcastle. It had been a 7-day charter with Icelandics spending the time pre-Christmas shopping.
I spent most of the flight in the Flight Deck where I sat in the Captains seat and even flew the aircraft for a while.
Those were the days!
I spent most of the flight in the Flight Deck where I sat in the Captains seat and even flew the aircraft for a while.
Those were the days!
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I was the only passenger on a DC10 positioning LGW/MAN for the first MAN/MIA 'Skytrain' service.
I was having a good time down the back with the cabin crew before the Captain invited me up front for the landing in to MAN ... I could hardly refuse.
Well there was serious turbulence on approach, the F/O was handling it, we touched down pretty much sideways on a soaking wet runway before the Captain uttered the words "well done".
By the time we arrived on stand I was still white as a sheet, the Ops staff came on board, realised that I needed a stiff one and promptly took me to their Portakabin office where a glass of Scotch or two was duly administered
I was having a good time down the back with the cabin crew before the Captain invited me up front for the landing in to MAN ... I could hardly refuse.
Well there was serious turbulence on approach, the F/O was handling it, we touched down pretty much sideways on a soaking wet runway before the Captain uttered the words "well done".
By the time we arrived on stand I was still white as a sheet, the Ops staff came on board, realised that I needed a stiff one and promptly took me to their Portakabin office where a glass of Scotch or two was duly administered
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Duo Airways
Working in Vienna approaching Christmas 2003, I booked a flight to Birmingham with Duo Airways. The one-way journey was around £45. The mid-afternoon flight was on one of their Bombardier CRJ700's and upon boarding I was told by a rather bemused cabin attendant that I was the only person on the flight.
Sat way up front in a very comfy seat and enjoyed all I could eat and drink for free for the entire flight. The attendants came and sat with me and chatted about all aspects of the flight including, as I remember, about how they were a bit worried about the passenger loads to Birmingham and, I think, Edinburgh. It was my most memorable flight, most enjoyable!
Unfortunately their fears were not unfounded as the airline ceased trading a few months later, but the memory of my own "private jet" will stay with me forever!
Sat way up front in a very comfy seat and enjoyed all I could eat and drink for free for the entire flight. The attendants came and sat with me and chatted about all aspects of the flight including, as I remember, about how they were a bit worried about the passenger loads to Birmingham and, I think, Edinburgh. It was my most memorable flight, most enjoyable!
Unfortunately their fears were not unfounded as the airline ceased trading a few months later, but the memory of my own "private jet" will stay with me forever!
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PAXboy
Been away on leave so just picked up your comment and had a look back to see if I could find photo - no success yet but did find old work diary(Filofax !) and aircraft were from Emery arranged through Kuhn & Nagel. My A/C Captain was called Jacobs or Jacobsen (its faded a bit so difficult to read) and he was ex USAF, and flew B52,s during Linebacker 2 operation over the then North Vietnam. From memory I think he said his A/C was called the "Mekong Express" and he was quite descriptive in his tales of attacking the North, describing the "Sam Song" they would hear when being tracked by guided weapons. It was interesting to compare with my own Fathers tales from his (very) limited experience over Germany in 1943, as though technology had changed, the human being had not, so tales of burning cities and A/C were in some ways not dissimilar, nor the terror of carrying out these raids for the aircrew involved.
As for the DC8 I flew in, I can only say they both had a few miles on the clock and were a little care worn but both behaved themselves, and indeed crossed the pond together a few miles a beam of one another, and were behind each other on approach.
One interesting thing was pointed out to me on the controls on approach in that the ground spoiler leaver is armed in flight, and above the leaver there is a sign saying "Not to be deployed in flight". My Captain said this sign came about from some accidental deployments in flight (with resultant crashes) as you have to pass the leaver pass the deploy position to arm them. He said they may well have put a sign saying "Do not crash this A/C", as it was the design of the system which caused this, not pilot error in his opinion. Other than that he quite liked them, though he was looking forward to flying some newer metal.
Regards
Mr Mac
Been away on leave so just picked up your comment and had a look back to see if I could find photo - no success yet but did find old work diary(Filofax !) and aircraft were from Emery arranged through Kuhn & Nagel. My A/C Captain was called Jacobs or Jacobsen (its faded a bit so difficult to read) and he was ex USAF, and flew B52,s during Linebacker 2 operation over the then North Vietnam. From memory I think he said his A/C was called the "Mekong Express" and he was quite descriptive in his tales of attacking the North, describing the "Sam Song" they would hear when being tracked by guided weapons. It was interesting to compare with my own Fathers tales from his (very) limited experience over Germany in 1943, as though technology had changed, the human being had not, so tales of burning cities and A/C were in some ways not dissimilar, nor the terror of carrying out these raids for the aircrew involved.
As for the DC8 I flew in, I can only say they both had a few miles on the clock and were a little care worn but both behaved themselves, and indeed crossed the pond together a few miles a beam of one another, and were behind each other on approach.
One interesting thing was pointed out to me on the controls on approach in that the ground spoiler leaver is armed in flight, and above the leaver there is a sign saying "Not to be deployed in flight". My Captain said this sign came about from some accidental deployments in flight (with resultant crashes) as you have to pass the leaver pass the deploy position to arm them. He said they may well have put a sign saying "Do not crash this A/C", as it was the design of the system which caused this, not pilot error in his opinion. Other than that he quite liked them, though he was looking forward to flying some newer metal.
Regards
Mr Mac
Last edited by Mr Mac; 21st Feb 2016 at 17:11.
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When Ryanair used to do penny flights, I'd buy up as many of them I could so that I almost had a FR 737 private jet all to myself.