Skirmantas Strimaitis takes a selfie onboard a Boeing 737-800 airplane, taking off from Vilnius, Lithuania, March 16, 2019, as the only passenger aboard. The aircraft with two pilots and five crew members and which usually can sit up to 188 people, flew to Bergamo, Italy. Photo : AP Images Skirmantas Strimaitis bought a flight from Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, to Italy on March 16 only to show up and find that he was the only person booked on the plane. Advertisement I know what you’re thinking: this is the ideal flight. But if I showed up to my flight and I’m the only one? It’s going to take a hell of a lot to convince me that the plane is okay to fly, and that there isn’t a multi-government conspiracy to murder me somewhere along the flight path and dump my body. But according to the Associated Press, Strimaitis’ solitude was not malicious, he was just lucky. He was the only passenger on the 737-800 with a maximum seating capacity of 189 because a travel agency had chartered the plane for a separate group for its return flight after it landed in Italy. To try to make up some money off of getting the plane to Italy, the airline offered one-way tickets and only Strimaitis bought one. And he wasn’t completely alone, because there were two pilots and five crew members, the latter of which probably just awkwardly hung out by the bathrooms talking about how creepy it is to fly on a nearly empty airplane. If you want to know how particularly unsettling it is to have an entire flight crew of people on a 737 all to yourself, Abigail Disney, the granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, described how uncomfortable it was for her when she took her family’s private jet alone for the first time in this interview with The Cut last week: When did you stop riding the private jet? The moment for me, when I decided I couldn’t fly in the plane anymore, was about 20 years ago. I had to fly out to California for a meeting but I had to get back to New York by the next morning for a conference. And the guy who ran our family’s company put me on the 737 alone. I flew across the country overnight, by myself on that giant plane, and I was sitting there thinking about the carbon footprint and the number of flight attendants and the other pilot on-call and what it was costing, and I just wanted to be sick. By the way, my parents always made fun of the fact that I thought it was terrible and awful because they were very comfortable with what they were doing.﻿ Advertisement See, if I was this Strimaitis guy, I’d be mad they even made me pay for a plane that was already going that direction with or without me. Correction: Abigail Disney is the granddaughter of Roy O. Disney, co-founder of the Walt Disney company. We regret the error.<doc-sep>(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. Unique experience Strimaitis is outnumbered by cabin crew in this shot. Courtesy Skirmantas Strimaitis 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."<doc-sep>Associated Press VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — A Lithuanian man flying to Italy got a pleasant surprise when he boarded the plane: He was the only passenger on the Boeing 737-800. Skirmantas Strimaitis, who was flying from capital Vilnius to the northern Italian city of Bergamo for a skiing holiday March 16, had the whole plane — which can usually sit up to 188 people — to himself. The only others onboard were two pilots and five crew members. 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 told The Associated Press Tuesday the flight, which lasted more than two hours, was “a once in the lifetime experience.”<doc-sep>
A Lithuanian man had the rare treat of an entire Boeing 737 for himself on a flight between Vilnius and the Italian city of Bergamo. According to the Associated Press, Skirmantas Strimaitis had the entire 188-seat plane to himself beyond the seven-person flight crew. Flying solo: A Lithuanian man flying to Italy gets a pleasant surprise: He was the only passenger on a Boeing 737-800. The plane can hold up to 188 people. https://t.co/Y2ao8ImO3H #odd — AP Oddities (@AP_Oddities) April 2, 2019 The eerily empty plane was the result of a strange booking. A travel agency called Novaturas had chartered the plane to fly a group home from Italy after it landed in Bergamo. Because the plane was occupied, they only sold one-way tickets between the Lithuanian capital and the ski resort destination. Only one person bought a ticket, Strimaitis, and he was rewarded with a two-plus hour flight all by his lonesome. Strimatitis called the flight "a once in the lifetime experience" when he spoke to the AP. Strimatitis' experience was the positive extreme of what has been a wild week in the aviation world. Getting a plane to yourself is a considerable sight better than the recent passengers of suddenly defunct budget carrier Wow Air. More than 1,000 passengers were left stranded when the airline canceled all of its flights and ceased operations this week. "As is normal, people believed we would get the investment," Wow Air CEO Skuli Mogensen explained of the sudden shutdown that left many travelers stranded in the airport, finding out about the shutdown mere minutes before their flight. "We have been very transparent, but it didn't happen. [...] I'm very sorry about this as these are people who have supported us. I'm disappointed not to honor our commitments."