Only passenger on a flight
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 543
Likes: 15
From: North West UK
Only passenger on a flight
Chinese woman becomes 'world's luckiest passenger' - BBC News
All well and good, but I had the same thing without the Facebook nonsense in October 2013 from MAN to LHR. Great service on BA with lovely staff and loads to eat and drink. Pity it was so short....
Best thing about it was the ability of an empty A319 flying only 200 miles to start the take off run from half way down the runway and lifting off within what felt like a five second ground run. I recall looking out of the window at two heavily laden A330s trundling to the beginning of the runway and thinking "...I wonder if we can overtake those two..." We sure did.
All well and good, but I had the same thing without the Facebook nonsense in October 2013 from MAN to LHR. Great service on BA with lovely staff and loads to eat and drink. Pity it was so short....
Best thing about it was the ability of an empty A319 flying only 200 miles to start the take off run from half way down the runway and lifting off within what felt like a five second ground run. I recall looking out of the window at two heavily laden A330s trundling to the beginning of the runway and thinking "...I wonder if we can overtake those two..." We sure did.
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 7,056
Likes: 2
From: London
Once one of 30 (including 8 kids) on a Qantas 747 Trans-Tasman on a Saturday night
Moved everyone into business class, joined by the single first class passenger - loads of free booze and food - everyone wandering about chatting
Turn off all the lights down the back except emergency lighting and allow the kids to run about there...
Marvellous!!
Moved everyone into business class, joined by the single first class passenger - loads of free booze and food - everyone wandering about chatting
Turn off all the lights down the back except emergency lighting and allow the kids to run about there...
Marvellous!!
Last edited by Heathrow Harry; 4th February 2016 at 12:54.
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,155
Likes: 112
From: There and here
Was one of less than 10 on a BA 767 LIN-LHR on the day after the beginning of GW1. Everyone else was hedging their bets by not travelling due to fears of reprisals by Saddam Hussein's agents. In general, in the 'olden days' there seemed to be more empty seats on most flights, so you could spread out once in the cruise.
SHJ
SHJ
Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 4,480
Likes: 706
From: UK
I had an EK flight several years ago on an A380 where there were only 10 people in rows 65-80.
Pretty much everyone took the middle 4 to lie flat for most of the overnight
That same route, same time of year, same time of day, a year later and I could see only 2 empty seats in the rear half of the downstairs.
Pretty much everyone took the middle 4 to lie flat for most of the overnight
That same route, same time of year, same time of day, a year later and I could see only 2 empty seats in the rear half of the downstairs.
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 3,423
Likes: 1
From: world
It has happened to me on a number of occasions in 50 odd years. Best was many moons ago when I was the only pax on an Air Anglia PA-31 Navajo flight from BHX to NWI. As it was a single pilot operation I got to sit in row 0 and was even allowed a go at flying it. Great fun.
Joined: Sep 2007
Aviation Qualifications: PPL
Posts: 97
Likes: 6
From: Lake Luzerne, NY
Happened to me in 2012. I was the only passenger on a flight from Scranton to Newark, for a connection to Heathrow. It was running late, and we arrived at the gate directly across the pier from the Heathrow flight, so I had a few yards to walk for my next flight. I've always wondered if that was deliberate or coincidence.
Paxing All Over The World
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 10,842
Likes: 328
From: Hertfordshire, UK.
When I saw the thread title, I thought the report would be this: Alex Simon was the only passenger on board a Philippine Airlines flight | Daily Mail Online
When I searched for the one from a week ago, this showed from a year ago: Man finds himself alone on Delta flight - CNN.com
My guess is that, with the multiplicity of flights these days, statistically it will mean more examples and so it will become less remarkable.
When I searched for the one from a week ago, this showed from a year ago: Man finds himself alone on Delta flight - CNN.com
My guess is that, with the multiplicity of flights these days, statistically it will mean more examples and so it will become less remarkable.
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 92
Likes: 0
From: Toulouse
Late 90s with Air Littoral, CDG to Saarbrucken they laid on an F100 just for me.
"Just ring if you want anything".
Return was some Embraer turboprop - for 3 pax.
Not surprisingly Air Littoral are now defunct
"Just ring if you want anything".
Return was some Embraer turboprop - for 3 pax.
Not surprisingly Air Littoral are now defunct
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 389
Likes: 0
From: moraira,spain-Norfolk, UK
Sole passenger
Years ago was the only passenger on a Fokker 100 Eindhoven to Schiphol. Due to
a monumental sc**wup My car was at Schiphol and my flight was to Rotterdam.
When I explained to the flight crew... Don't worry we'll put you on the manifest (?)
when we fly on to Eindhoven, then we go empty to Schiphol. So that's what we did.
Quite low level, and then landing gate & customs all to myself.
Different times !
Forgot to say, about a week or so later a Fokker 100 broke up in a thunderstorm
shortly after departing Rotterdam. Always wondered !
a monumental sc**wup My car was at Schiphol and my flight was to Rotterdam.
When I explained to the flight crew... Don't worry we'll put you on the manifest (?)
when we fly on to Eindhoven, then we go empty to Schiphol. So that's what we did.
Quite low level, and then landing gate & customs all to myself.
Different times !
Forgot to say, about a week or so later a Fokker 100 broke up in a thunderstorm
shortly after departing Rotterdam. Always wondered !
Last edited by esa-aardvark; 4th February 2016 at 04:29. Reason: Remembered something
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 114
Likes: 9
From: United Kingdom
Solo Pax!
Once had a L1011 Tri-Star to myself all the way from Alaska to the UK. The circumstances were exceptional, but this was a non-IFE aircraft, so plenty of food and a four-seat kip did nicely, thank you!
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 758
Likes: 2
From: morayshire
It's always a boody long time ago...
....nowadays.
I was the sole pax on an Air Inter DC9 Orly to Nimes-Garons. The FA insisted on doing the pax brief while she sat next to me. She started "Capt Cauvin and his crew....." I said "Ask him if he was born in Madagascar" She looked at me very strangely but did ask, she was even more surprised when he came back saying fetch him up to the flight deck. When I got there it was immediately apparent that he was related to "Cauvin the Pirate" who flew for the local provincial political boss in Madagascar. He was astounded that I had flown with his father a few years before. The clue was in the fact that all the male members of that family were completely bald and had very regularly shaped heads (like Yul Brynner).
The whole family were all air mad and all qualified pilots.
The FO got all the flying on that leg while matey chatted and I was very well fed and watered (wined). It was a great start to a great month with the French Aeronavale.
The Ancient Mariner
I was the sole pax on an Air Inter DC9 Orly to Nimes-Garons. The FA insisted on doing the pax brief while she sat next to me. She started "Capt Cauvin and his crew....." I said "Ask him if he was born in Madagascar" She looked at me very strangely but did ask, she was even more surprised when he came back saying fetch him up to the flight deck. When I got there it was immediately apparent that he was related to "Cauvin the Pirate" who flew for the local provincial political boss in Madagascar. He was astounded that I had flown with his father a few years before. The clue was in the fact that all the male members of that family were completely bald and had very regularly shaped heads (like Yul Brynner).
The whole family were all air mad and all qualified pilots.
The FO got all the flying on that leg while matey chatted and I was very well fed and watered (wined). It was a great start to a great month with the French Aeronavale.
The Ancient Mariner