Newsmaker

Traveling alone will be the scariest, most liberating, life-changing experience of your life and everyone wants to try it at least once in life. But have you ever thought of traveling alone on a flight from India to Dubai for just Rs. 18000, well, you will be shocked to know that something similar has happened with a 40 years old Indian man, Bhavesh Javeri. Reportedly, he boarded an Emirates flight from Mumbai to Dubai on May 19, on an exclusive flight on a 360-seater Boeing 777 aircraft with no other passengers.

As per the Times Of India reports, Bhavesh Javeri told the media portal about his solo flight experience, "I stepped into the aircraft and the air hostesses all clapped to welcome me aboard. The novelty kept on coming through the flight in the form of the familiar inflight public address, delivered with a personal touch. 'Mr Javeri, please fasten your seat belt. Mr Javeri, we are preparing to land.' After we landed, I walked out leisurely and picked up my bag, the only one lying next to a conveyor belt."

Bhavesh Javeri, who has been a resident of Dubai for the past 20 years, has boarded over 240 flights between Mumbai and Dubai but for him flying solo was the best experience of his life. He further added about the experience, "I have flown so much, but this is the best flight ever."

Well, as per the current travel restrictions imposed by the United Arab Emirates amid the coronavirus pandemic, only UAE nationals, holders of UAE Golden visa and members of the diplomatic mission can fly from India to UAE.

As per the India Times, Bhavesh Javeri has a Golden visa and had purchased the Rs 18,000 economy class ticket after making a call to the airline one week prior to the scheduled date of his departure. "I normally book a business class ticket, but I thought, why not book an economy seat, the flight would have only a few passengers," he added.

An official with an Indian carrier made an attempt to explain why the airline had the Boeing 777 burn about 17 tonnes of fuel worth Rs 8 lakh to fly a lone economy-class passenger. "It's probably a case of good passenger load on one direction, say, when they flew from Dubai to Mumbai, and then poor on the return leg. The airline would have operated the return leg anyway, even with zero paying passengers on board."

For Bhavesh Javeri it was a lifetime experience as he had a fantastic time interacting with the crew as well as the commander, who also offered to give him a tour of the entire plane. Well, something similar happened last month with Bob Pitts, who was the only passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight from Ft. Lauderdale to St. Louis.