A man of the Republic of Korea (ROK) was flying high on a journey home from China on Thursday -- when he found he was the only passenger aboard the Airbus A320 aircraft.

 

The man named Lee was returning to the ROK to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional festival of reunion, with his family.

 

Mr. Lee was told by a stewardess on flight CZ3065 from Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, to Seoul that he was on a "special flight" when he found himself sitting alone in an empty cabin of the A320, which can carry 150 to 180 passengers.

 

The plane took off at 11 a.m. and arrived at Seoul 2:35 p.m. as scheduled, according to the department of publicity of the Hunan branch of China Southern Airlines, operator of the international flight.

 

"Our crew provided the best service for Mr. Lee though he asked the stewardesses to rest many times," said Tang Songnian, an official with the airline's publicity department.

 

Usually, the flight is operated between Changsha and Seoul every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday by the airline company.

 

"Considering Friday is the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival and many ROK residents fly back home every year this time, our company arranged this additional flight on Thursday," said Tang, who insisted the incident was not an indication of an imminent slack season.

 

However, it was not the first time China Southern Airlines had carried just one passenger on a flight.

 

In February 1995, one of its aircraft carried a sole woman passenger from Guangzhou, provincial capital of southern Guangdong Province, to Zhangjiajie, a popular scenic area in Hunan Province.

 

Hunan has seen a surge of ROK tourists to Zhangjiajie in recent years.

 

The number of ROK tourists to the city grew from 100,000 in 2002 to nearly 500,000 last year, statistics with the Hunan provincial tourism administration show.

 

No direct flights operate between Seoul and Zhangjiajie as the latter has no international airport status.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 7, 2006)