Best flight ever! British man has entire plane to himself

A British chess player was lucky to be treated to his own 'private jet' when he boarded a flight from South Africa to Zimbabwe and discovered he was the only passenger on the plane.

When Nigel Short, from Lancashire, checked in at the airport in Johannesburg, he was told not to be late as he was one of only four people on the flight to Victoria Falls.

See also: Best flight delay ever? Passengers stranded in Hawaii given £500

Speaking to USA Today, the former World Chess Champion finalist said: "So, I got to my gate on time and there was no one there. I was uncomfortable because I thought maybe I made a mistake or arrived too early."

He returned to the main terminal to double-check his gate information and found it was correct. He went back to the gate but didn't see any passengers or staff.

When the Air Zimbabwe crew arrived, they told him he would be the only passenger flying.

Short said he was amazed the flight wasn't cancelled. "I've been on other private planes and small planes, but there were more passengers on those," he said.

The 50-year-old said the crew completed the safety demonstration and as he had a whole 105-seat Boeing 737 to himself, he decided to move to a window seat.

He told MailOnline that the announcements were directed to him.

"Everything was addressed to me personally, everything began 'Mr Short'.

"It was all smiles and it was a bit of a joke, really. But they went through things in the proper way. I think they very much saw the funny side of the whole thing as well."