Ms Zhang, who's been dubbed ‘China’s luckiest passenger’ by netizens, recently received unparalleled VIP service as the sole passenger on her flight home for Spring Festival from Wuhan to Guangzhou earlier this week.
While millions embarked on long journeys back home to celebrate Chinese New Year with family and friends amidst travel chaos, Ms Zhang was whisked home in lavish comfort.
Initially scheduled to depart on flight CZ2833, Zhang, along with the rest of the plane’s passengers, was offered an earlier flight, owing to delays caused by weather which saw 100,000 people temporarily stranded at Guangzhou Railway Station. Most accepted the offer, but whether through a moment of divine inspiration or through some other mystical means, Zhang saw fit to decline and hold out for the original flight, which ended up taking off with only her and the crew aboard.
Taking to Weibo, Zhang recorded her once in a lifetime experience. “I felt so happy, it was a rare life experience for me and it was new," she told the BBC. "I felt like a rockstar."
Her post received mixed reactions, with well-wishers reveling in her experience. “What a great way to fly, you are indeed very lucky to experience such hospitality especially at such a chaotic travelling period,” wrote one user. "Sister you are clearly the world’s luckiest passenger – cherish it," wrote another.
Not everyone who took to Weibo agreed, arguing the venture was “too extravagant," and that no airline should maintain the schedule of a chartered flight for a single individual.
"Given the Chinese New Year timing when thousands of people are getting crushed while just trying to go home, isn’t this wasteful?” asked one user. Another disgruntled user believed the airline “should have just waited” to fill the plane before it embarked, suggesting it was a waste of fuel.
Zhang valued the cost of her golden ticket at around RMB1,200.
While there are numerous ways to travel in luxury, it seems Ms Zhang hit the jackpot. With the world's largest annual human migration in full swing, a uniquely personal flight certainly seems the best way to do it.
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