Lithuanian man flies alone on commercial plane to Italy

VILNIUS, Lithuania – 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.”