Paul Wilkinson told LADBible: "It was like being on my own private jet. Someone told me a private jet is in the region of £28,000 and it'll probably never happen again.

"There was no one at the gate which I thought was strange. I spoke to the stewards waiting to take the passports and they said 'oh Mr. Paul, you're VIP today. You're flying on your own'.

"I thought they were having a laugh. I thought I was early or late. I kept thinking they were going to say my flight had been cancelled.

"The cabin crew were smiling, they kept calling me King Paul. I asked if they were joking but they said I had the plane all to myself, I could do what I want, ask for what I want.


"The service was second to none. They did a one-on-one safety demonstration, we took photographs and the captain came out and had a chat with me.

Paul concluded: "I think it was a total one off. They'd taken holidaymakers to Portugal and there was no one to come back and it was pure luck that I needed to go to Belfast”.