This was published 6 years ago
Woman gets entire Jet2 plane to herself on $79 flight from Scotland to Greece
By Annabel Fenwick Elliott
A British woman who had paid a modest £46 ($79) for a flight from Glasgow to Crete was stunned to find herself the only passenger on the plane.
Karon Grieve, a 57-year-old author from Ayrshire, arrived at the Jet2 check-in desk on Sunday hoping for a window seat (her strong preference) to be told that she would be joined by only two other passengers. When neither of them turned up, she proceeded to enjoy the 4.5 hour flight all to herself.
The pilot of the Boeing 737-800, who found the peculiar circumstances all rather amusing, provided her a running commentary via the intercom as they flew over various countries, addressing her and the (very unhurried) cabin crew as 'Karon and the girls', and even talking her through a lightning storm they passed, Karon revealed.
Jet2 flew a plane from Scotland to the Greek island of Crete with only one passenger on board.Credit: Alamy
She chose the window seat - naturally - in the first row of the aircraft, with plenty of legroom, and after a free meal and plenty of peace and quiet, she hopped off to be presented with her luggage straight from the hold.
"My suitcase was handed to me as soon as the flight touched down," she said. "I didn't even have to wait at the dreaded baggage carousel."
Flights headed out from the UK to Greece at the end of the summer season do tend to be less full, Jet2 informed us, but the very same plane looped back with a full capacity of 189 passengers returning from Crete that day.
How much did it cost the airline?
Considering Karon paid £46 for her ticket, and assuming the plane ought to have been full with other passengers paid the same fare, that's £8,700 Jet2 might have otherwise earned.
This isn't taking into acount the cost of fuel.
According to Airline Monitor, a 189-seat Boeing 737-800 - the aircraft used by Jet2 - burns up to 922 gallons of fuel per hour.
For a 4.5-hour flight from Glasgow to Crete, this equates to an eye-watering £11,000 in fuel - all to ferry one passenger. Then there's airport fees, maintenance and staff pay to consider.
How often does this happen?
It is extremely rare for a flight to end up carrying only one or two passengers, particularly when it comes to budget short-haul flights, aviation expert John Strickland said: "They usually fly at between 95 and 100 per cent capacity."
Ryanair backed this up, giving us a figure of 97 per cent full on average, up by two per cent last month alone.
But miracles do happen, and have in the past for a lucky few.
Last September, two American backpackers were delighted to find themselves the only passengers on 1.5 hour flight from Krabi, in Thailand, to Penang, Malaysia.
"It was one of the best flights I've ever been on," said Carrie Fisher, who was travelling with her boyfriend Kyle McNicol.
"The staff, though awkward at first – it was the first time that this had happened to them too - were brilliant."
In December of last year, three women said they were treated like "rock stars" when they found themselves alone on a British Airways flight for 150 people.
Laura Stevens, 34, said she and friends Sarah Hunt, 35, and Laurie-Lin Waller, 33, were upgraded to business class, drank Champagne and took selfies in the cockpit on the 2.5-hour flight.
They were flying back to London Heathrow from Gibraltar when the bountiful anomaly occurred.
So keep your fingers crossed – it's rare, but it does happen.
The Telegraph, London
See also: The reason why some planes fly nearly empty
See also: Better than business class: Qantas A380 superjumbo flies to LA nearly empty
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