(CNN) — When Skirmantas Strimaitis booked a one-way ticket to northern Italy he never imagined he'd be the
only passenger on board.
But the Lithuanian national, who was flying from Vilnius to Bergamo for a skiing trip on March 16, was in for a
shock when he discovered he had the entire Boeing 737-800 to himself.
His only companions on board the plane, which has a seating capacity of 189, were two pilots and five crew
members.
Strimaitis suspected something was amiss when he went to check in at Lithuania's Vilnius International Airport
and was told the crew were waiting for him.
After asking why, as he was by no means late, Strimaitis was informed that he was the sole passenger on
board.
Tour operator Novaturas confirmed to CNN Travel they chartered a flight from Bergamo to Vilnius for a group
of clients that day.
In order to avoid the aircraft coming back empty, one-way tickets were put on sale for the return trip.
However, Strimaitis was the only person to buy one. Leading to what he describes as a "unique and unreal"
experience.
"The crew seemed quite confused at first," he tells CNN Travel. "Maybe it was a new experience for them as
well.
"I was provided with a personal pre-flight safety demonstration. Then I just enjoyed the flight by taking selfies
and writing. To have silence on a plane was very unusual. I was smiling all day."
He shared a selfie of himself on board the deserted plane during the trip, which lasted around two hours.
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.
"The crew said how nice it was to have me on the board," he explains. "I'm sure it was an easy job for them."
Of course, this isn't the first case of a passenger inadvertently getting the private plane experience.
Karon Grieve was the only passenger on board a Jet2 airlines flight from Glasgow to Crete in 2017. The Scottish
author tweeted an image of her experience, saying she "felt like a VIP."
Meanwhile last year, Beth VerSteeg flew from New York to Washington, D.C. on board a more or less empty
aircraft after the unnamed airline apparently mistakenly booked her on a flight intended for staff only.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He can never experience this again.

What do u expect

Gabgame are you guys never tired of scamming. Why can't you help your village people and your siblings with your sure game and cure their poverty.

I trust my African brothers, it’s an opportunity to chat up one of the air hostess. No dulling.

Life has no duplicate so no one is ready to risk it

sir the only reason, is about the Ethiopian incident. period

So nobody wants to see God anymore...

kachi19:
So nobody wants to see God anymore...

majamajic:
sir the only reason, is about the Ethiopian incident. period

Una dey read at all? Some ppl chartered d full plane and dey jus didn't want to go back empty so dats y dey were willing to carry jus one person.. Na today plane don dey crash abi na d same plane model crash for Ethiopia?

Nbote:




Una dey read at all? Some ppl chartered d full plane and dey jus didn't want to go back empty so dats y dey were willing to carry jus one person.. Na today plane don dey crash abi na d same plane model crash for Ethiopia?

the plane went on charter , normally if not the crash, people will book the plane normally, but cos of the crash, people didn't book it. so only him was on the plane. read well my brother, normally people do book chartered planes on return. the Ethiopian crash was the issue why people avoided the plane. see the model

majamajic:


the plane went on charter , normally if not the clash, people will book the plane normally, but cos of the clash, people didn't book it. so only him was on the plane. read well my brother, normally people do book chartered planes on return. the Ethiopian clash was the issue why people avoided the plane. see the model

No no only clash, flash too.

Keep arguing o

majamajic:


the plane went on charter , normally if not the crash, people will book the plane normally, but cos of the crash, people didn't book it. so only him was on the plane. read well my brother, normally people do book chartered planes on return. the Ethiopian crash was the issue why people avoided the plane. see the model

Oga stop showing ur ignorance... D plane model is completely different from d Ethiopian Airline dat crashed... Do U think its every route dat has passenger traffic? It is obvious dat was y it was chartered in d first place.. U were even told a similar incident happened in 2017 u stil dey talk like pikin

Nbote:


Oga stop showing ur ignorance... D plane model is completely different from d Ethiopian Airline dat crashed... Do U think its every route dat has passenger traffic? It is obvious dat was y it was chartered in d first place.. U were even told a similar incident happened in 2017 u stil dey talk like pikin

u win , make I go fin where I will eat figure this morning, Na that one dey do me

Nbote:


Oga stop showing ur ignorance... D plane model is completely different from d Ethiopian Airline dat crashed... Do U think its every route dat has passenger traffic? It is obvious dat was y it was chartered in d first place.. U were even told a similar incident happened in 2017 u stil dey talk like pikin

sir here u are, u keep arguing , continue

Nbote:


Oga stop showing ur ignorance... D plane model is completely different from d Ethiopian Airline dat crashed... Do U think its every route dat has passenger traffic? It is obvious dat was y it was chartered in d first place.. U were even told a similar incident happened in 2017 u stil dey talk like pikin

Continue sir

BusinessHub1:

No no only clash, flash too.

Keep arguing o

See u upon all your knowledge, I told u the reason.

majamajic:


See u upon all your knowledge, I told u the reason.

Lol, how old are you?
Please can someone come and educate this man

BusinessHub1:

Lol, how old are you?
Please can someone come and educate this man

sometimes u educated people , the only way we challenge u people is by experience, I started flying since about 23 yrs ago and am still Very close to 40.

whenever there's a crash , plane bookings will Short, fully booked flights will reduce to half, so on this , this very flight supposed have more passengers if Ethiopian air incident didn't occur, forget about if it was chartered or not ,

majamajic:


sometimes u educated people , the only way we challenge u people is by experience, I started flying since about 23 yrs ago and am still Very close to 40.

whenever there's a crash , plane bookings will Short, fully booked flights will reduce to half, so on this , this very flight supposed have more passengers if Ethiopian air incident didn't occur, forget about if it was chartered or not ,

It’s ok Sir. Truth is I don’t doubt any of these. You got me wrong the start. I was actually responding to your “clash” instead of “crash”. If TRULY you started flying 23years ago like alleged then I need to give you respect as I feel you deserve. Happy new month Boss.

BusinessHub1:

It’s ok Sir. Truth is I don’t doubt any of these. You got me wrong the start. I was actually responding to your “clash” instead of “crash”. If TRULY you started flying 23years ago like alleged then I need to give you respect as I feel you deserve. Happy new month Boss.

yea , me no go school so sometimes I make mistakes in spellings, but I got about 500 hours of in-flight hours, with about 8 different airlines, Happy new to u too, stay blessed , happy jimoh, salamalekum !!

OMG!!! This is an experience of a life time, Nice one. This can never happen in Nigeria. we are always running away and foreigners keep trooping in., Charter a flight from Nigeria to anywhere in the world. 90% Nigerians and few foreigners, however same plane from anywhere in the world to Nigeria, the reverse is the case lol