The unexpected VIP

Imagine getting an entire aircraft all for yourself? We get overjoyed if the seat next to us is vacant but an entire flight?

That’s what happened to Lithuanian Skirmantas Strimaitis. He was flying from his home town, Vilnius to Bergamo in Italy for a ski holiday. When he arrived at his gate, he realized he was the only passenger. But the full import of what it meant struck only when he sat – he was the only occupant in the 188-seater plane. Apart from him, there were two pilots and five crew members. Yes, five people ensuring that one man had everything he needed to enjoy his trip.

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.

Strimaitis says the pilot referred to him as "Mr Passenger" while speaking over the tannoy after the plane landed at Orio al Serio International Airport in Bergamo.

This is surely once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. But what a feeling that must have been! More than the ski holiday, it is this travel which will remain with Skirmantas forever.