A woman flying back from Ibiza got the plane to herself after she turned out to be the only passenger. Hannah Maden-Adams, 38, was treated like a VIP on the £188 flight.
She had been in Ibiza celebrating her birthday with friends and expected to hop on a normal flight home. But to her surprise the flight from Ibiza to Jersey was completely empty apart from herself and the crew. She was chauffeured from the boarding gate to the plane in a car and even got some top holiday tips from the pilots as they were flying back.
Hannah, from Jersey, said: “It sounds cheesy because I'm just a normal person, but it felt really exciting being taken in a car to the aircraft and then being the only person to board. It was very surreal, but it was just fun as well - how often does something like that happen?
“Normally flights are absolutely packed, you’ve got kids, families, groups of people all talking and laughing. Instead, they said 'sit where you like and put your luggage where you like'. I went for a window seat – I decided to sit up near the front as I like to see the view.”
Hannah, who founded a communications agency, had booked the flight for Thursday, July 6. However, when she arrived at check-in, staff were insistent that there were no flights going from Ibiza to Jersey, with some staff saying they had never even heard of the place.
She finally managed to check-in, but Hannah said she began to wonder where the other passengers were when she arrived at the gate. It wasn’t until the gate was opened that a member of staff informed her she was the only passenger.
After her ride in a private car from the gate she was greeted by cabin crew, who were equally surprised by the unique private jet experience. They informed her the first flight from Jersey to Ibiza had departed that morning and they hadn’t expected anyone would be flying back that afternoon.
Subscribe here for the latest news where you live
When she landed in Jersey she was escorted through arrivals, which had been opened just for her – but she says she still had to wait for her bags to arrive at baggage claim.
Hannah said: “I didn’t know how busy it would be, but I didn’t expect to be only one - I didn’t think they would fly if there was only one passenger, but they had to get plane back to Jersey, so the flight was going anyway. I had no idea I was the only person until that very last moment at the gate before going to the plane.
“After the weird experience at check-in I wasn’t convinced that I even had a direct flight. The staff and pilot said they had never flown just one passenger on one of their planes before.
“When we were in the air the pilots were so kind, I thought it was a really nice personal touch, the pilots were pointing out various locations and recommended destinations for holidays. It was really fun, the air stewardesses chatted the whole way, it was great to get to know them find out about their lives. But they were very professional still, they did all the flight safety instructions and all the announcements.”
