A video of a passenger who was stunned to find that her long-haul flight was nearly empty has gone viral on TikTok.
The scene on the plane was captured in a video posted on TikTok by Liana (@lianasusan1), a millennial traveler from New Zealand who is based on the Gold Coast of the Australian state of Queensland.
Liana, who did not share her last name or exact age, told Newsweek she was flying on an economy class flight with Emirates from Brisbane Airport to Dubai International Airport on October 20.
Text overlaid on the clip says: “When I say this flight was empty, I am not lying. What a dream.” The footage shows several empty rows both in front of her and behind her.
When Liana asked if she can be upgraded to business class, the flight attendants told her that “an upgrade couldn’t be done once boarded,” Liana said. “However, they also mentioned that in their opinion it wouldn’t be worthwhile since we had unlimited space in economy.”
Asked around how many people were on the flight, Liana said: “From memory, we were told by cabin crew there were 40 in business and first class. In economy, where we were seated, there were maybe 40 across the entire plane.”
While it is unknown which aircraft Liana was traveling in, the seat capacity for Emirates’ fleet can range anywhere from around 300 seats on its new A350 aircraft to around 615 seats on its A380 aircraft.
Liana added that there were around six staff members in economy class, noting that she wasn’t sure how many crew members were working in first and business class.
“Every single person got a row each,” Liana said. “I took a walk to stretch my legs throughout the journey and recorded a video on my phone just out of pure amazement…”
A caption shared with the post says: “14 hrs of full row bliss. I requested to upgrade to business knowing it’d be cheap and the flight attendants told me it’s a waste of money in a flight so empty and I’m glad I took their advice. Well rested arriving in Dubai.”
The total demand for air travel rose by 3.6 percent in September from the figure reported in the same month last year, according to a report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
North American airlines saw a 2.5 percent year-on-year growth in demand, while the capacity increased 4.3 percent year-on-year, according to the IATA.
“Solid international demand drove 90 percent of September’s 3.6 percent overall growth. Importantly, the capacity expansion slightly nudged ahead of demand growth at 3.7 percent,” Willie Walsh, the IATA’s director general, said in a statement.
He added: “With November flight schedules indicating a 3 percent expansion on the previous year, airlines are gearing up for continued growth into the year-end holiday season. This is despite the severe constraints of unresolved supply chain issues.”
Newsweek has contacted Emirates for comment via email.
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