Having a private plane all to yourself is something most of us can only dream of. Yet one lucky couple from Wythenshawe found themselves experiencing just that, when they were the only passengers flying from Corfu to Manchester.
Kevin McCuillon, 52, and Samantha, 50, were treated like VIPs on the three and a half hour flight in July 2021 - and even joked with cabin crew that they “needed more leg room”.
The couple, who flew out with Ryanair, were enjoying their week-long holiday in Corfu so much that they decided to extend their stay by a few days, so they booked new flights with Jet2. But when they arrived at the airport on the Saturday evening, they started to realise something was off as no other passengers seemed to be around.
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Sam said: “It was unbelievable, obviously Covid was still a thing at the time. I never thought I would travel alone in a plane. When we went to check in for the flight we thought it was a bit odd that nobody was around, there still weren’t any other passengers at passport control and I started to get a bit panicky.
“I wondered if something was wrong and our flight had been cancelled or we were late, the airport was so quiet but the staff assured us everything was ok. It was getting later and later and past the departure time. Then the shuttle bus arrived to take us to the plane and we were the only ones on board - we thought we were just late for the flight.
“Then we got to the plane and went up the steps, the captain was there with two flight attendants and they told us we were the only ones going on the plane. The captain said he would tell us all the information, where we flying over and things like that, at the front of the plane instead of making an announcement.
“He then said once we’d taken off we can do whatever we like and treat the plane as our own private jet - he said we could run up and down the aisle and do what we wanted. The crew told the couple that since they had to return to Manchester anyway, they decided not to cancel the flight, in spite of the lack of demand.
Sam, who works as a clerk for the NHS, added: “It was amazing, the staff were lovely, they gave us champagne to drink, sweets to eat, we didn’t have to pay for anything. We didn’t actually run up and down but we laughed and joked with the attendants, we kept saying that we needed more leg room. We still had to wear masks though.
“It was such an incredible experience and I don’t think it would happen again, it’s like winning the lottery. It was actually quite bizarre, at one point I dozed off and when I woke up I wondered where everyone was.
“When we arrived at Manchester the airport was empty too, it was around 1am. We got to passport control and the guy from border force looked at us and asked if there was anyone else.
“We told him what happened and he couldn’t believe it, he said that would never happen to him. I think it was a Covid thing, my friend had recently flown to Portugal and there were only ten people on her flight and I thought that was unbelievable - then we ended up with a whole plane to ourselves.
“We had originally flown with Ryanair, but we paid an extra £100 for the tickets with Jet 2 when we extended the stay - £100 for a 200 seater plane all to ourselves. We’re going back again this summer and it’s a place we’ve been to many times, I can’t wait to show them all what happened.”
A spokesman from Jet2 said: “We are delighted that Kevin and Samantha got to experience our VIP customer service in true style. Due to the traffic light system in place for international travel at the time, customers had only just been able to start travelling to Corfu again, meaning flights departing from Manchester were very busy but flights back were much quieter.”
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