(Getty)NZ Airports said flights with only one or two passengers were very rare when flying domestically because of airline capacity constraints. "One reason airlines fly with very few passengers is to defend a very valuable 'slot' - or an arrival time and gate at a busy or crowded airport," he said. "During COVID, airlines in Europe and the US flew such ghost flights to keep their slots for when the pandemic passed and passenger numbers regrew." People rebook on other flights when their flight is delayed, leaving fewer people on the original flight at the new time. This UK couple danced across the aisle to celebrate being the only two passengers flying from Krabi, Thailand to Penang in Malaysia in 2016.
