By John Ensor • Published: 12 Apr 2023 • 13:45 • 2 minutes read
Stock image of a Jet2 aircraft. Credit: Bradley Caslin/Shutterstock.com.
As reported in The Sun, Paul Wilkinson, 65, from St Annes, Lancashire arrived at Faro airport in Portugal on March 30, only to be informed that he was the only passenger.
Hailed as a “king” by Jet2 staff, Paul was treated to a luxury private jet experience. . . literally!
On arriving at the airport, Paul’s initial reaction was panic when he got to the departure gate with no queue in sight. Asked if the flight had been delayed or cancelled, airport staff told him that he was their VIP guest.
My Wilkinson enjoyed a spacious double shuttle bus ride and had the dilemma of which seat to pick once on board.
“There was no one at the gate which I thought was strange. I spoke to the stewards waiting to take the passports and they said, “Oh Mr Paul, you’re VIP today.”
“All of a sudden, they said my bus would be along in five minutes. I thought it was surreal.
“I expected a massive amount of people to come running but they didn’t. The bus turned up and I got on a double shuttle on my own, just the driver and me.
“It just didn’t seem right. I thought any minute they were going to say it was cancelled and there’d been a massive mix-up.
“The cabin crew were smiling, they kept calling me King Paul. I asked if they were joking but they said I had the plane all to myself, I could do what I want, ask for what I want.
“The service was second to none. They did a one-on-one safety demonstration; we took photographs, and the captain came out and had a chat with me.”
Paul paid £130 for the three-hour flight, and he had three cabin crew at his “beck and call”. He added, “It was like being on my own private jet. Someone told me a private jet is in the region of £28,000 and it’ll probably never happen again.”
And there was no waiting around at the other end, “My suitcase came round on its own because I was the only one in baggage reclaim.
“I think it was a total one-off. They’d taken holidaymakers to Portugal and there was no one to come back and it was pure luck that I needed to go to Belfast.
“At passport control they couldn’t believe I was the only one coming off the plane, three of them did my passport one checked and one stamped, it was all in good spirit.”
A spokesperson for Jet2 commented, “We are delighted that Mr Wilkinson was able to experience our award-winning customer service in true VIP style.
“Our outbound flight to Faro from Belfast International was particularly busy with lots of happy holidaymakers heading off to the Portuguese sunshine.”
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Originally from Doncaster, Yorkshire, John now lives in Galicia, Northern Spain with his wife Nina. He is passionate about news, music, cycling and animals.
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