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Woman flying home for CNY has plane all to herself

Her flight, which was delayed for 10 hours due to an unexpected snowstorm, was empty because most passengers caught earlier flights – leaving her the only one aboard.

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The experience was tuhao, she said, using a slang term for the nouveau riche.

“You’re right. I’m the only passenger with all the crew!”

But did all this become a reality when China Southern flight, operated using a Boeing 737-700 aircraft, normally carried 137 passengers on an average?

This photo taken on February 1, 2016 shows a Chinese woman surnamed Zhang (lower R) posing for photos on an empty flight from Wuhan to Guangzhou, after the China Southern flight was delayed for 10 hours.

Many people went online to express their envy at Zhang’s good luck in avoiding the enormous crowds that are the norm at this time of the year.

The Lunar New Year is one of the most important holidays on the Chinese calendar, and China’s migrants, numbering in the hundreds of millions, make the annual trek to their hometowns from jobs in major coastal cities like Guangzhou, where the country’s booming manufacturing sector is located. Yesterday, the rail authorities offered the stranded travellers free upgrades to high-speed trains as they tackled the huge backlog of passengers.

Guangzhou Railway Corp said 33,000 people were still stuck Wednesday morning, down from more than 50,000 Tuesday.

Four high-speed trains from other areas were roped in to run extra services to destinations north of the city to reduce the crowds, the Guangzhou Railway (Group) said. The blizzard which caused the train chaos also caused delays to several flights in central Wuhan, including Ms Zhang’s scheduled flight CZ2833 to Guangzhou.

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That was what one lucky traveller in China experienced while flying home to Guangzhou for the New Year holiday.

More Than 100,000 Chinese Travelers on Their Way Home for Lunar New Year Get Stranded at Train Station