That seat, or that, hasn’t been taken

This will sound like a rationalisation for not being a tycoon, but there is something sad about flying alone. By which we don’t mean when someone flies a plane oneself in a cockpit, but as a passenger on a commercial flight. Which is exactly what Karon Grieve did earlier this week as the only passenger on a flight from Glasgow, Scotland, to Heraklion, the capital of Crete.

She was, of course, delighted, not just to find acres of leg space, but also to get pampered by the flight crew who were only happy to serve one person throughout the flight — even if the airline, having to fly an almost empty plane, must not have been thrilled. The chances of us having Grieve’s experience is, well, minimal. And highly so. For one, one will have to fly from any point in India, not a country that does well in the empty stakes.

For another, the chances of any passenger airline in India taking off with one passenger is just above nil. For that experience, get rich and hire — or even better, buy — a private plane. Grieve is, indeed, lucky. And yet an empty plane, unlike an empty bus or train compartment, has a ring of loneliness to it. Oh, all right, you’re right. We are just jealous of Grieve’s happiness at being (15,000 feet) high on peace and quiet. Which is really why our sad little rationalisation of the legscurling joys of cattling along on planes.