While most holidaymakers would complain about a delayed flight, a hiccup in travel plans led to one couple falling in love at first sight.
Lisa Skellon and Jamie Hobbs are getting married next month after a Sliding Doors moment at Bournemouth Airport in 2019.
They were flying separately with friends for a November break in Tenerife but had to get off the plane before take-off and head back to the terminal while a problem was sorted.
The two groups of friends mingled over drinks in the departure lounge and, when it was time to get back on the plane, Lisa and Jamie, both 56, had already found a spark.
Just like the strangers who fall in love on a plane in the upcoming Netflix film Love At First Sight, they were determined not to miss their chance at happiness.
Lisa, a personal assistant to a surveyor, told the PA news agency: “We are very grateful for the delay, for once in our lives, because we probably would not have met if it wasn’t for that.”
She recalled their chance meeting in the departure lounge, saying: “We sat and had our drinks and we didn’t stop looking at each other.
“It was like being kids again. It was love at first sight for us both.”
When the Tui flight took off, the groups were two rows from each other and Lisa and Jamie remember trying to catch another glimpse of each other.
She said: “I repeatedly made excuses to pretend to get things out of my over-head luggage in order to keep looking back at Jamie.”
Jamie, a self-employed builder, said: “I waited for the queue to the toilet to be in line with their seats so I could speak to Lisa.
“Later I plucked up the courage to give Lisa my business card but her friend shouted, ‘She’s written her number on a Tui sick bag’.
“I still have a photo of it now.”
The love story continued on holiday, where Lisa and Jamie met every night, and their relationship blossomed when they came home to England.
Lisa and Jamie then shared lockdown together in Ferndown, Dorset, along with her daughter, and the couple are set to marry next month in Paphos, Cyprus.
This weekend, they held a pre-wedding party in their garden with 80 friends and family, complete with a two-tier plane-themed cake given to them by Tui.
It was after the couple cemented their relationship that they found out they had both previously holidayed in Majorca in the same hotel, at the same time, but did not meet.
There was also another failed possible meeting when Jamie went on an ’80s weekend in Minehead that Lisa was due to go on with a friend before dropping out at the last minute.
Lisa said: “There have been so many opportunities for us to meet before but we never did – until we eventually got together.”
The couple, who were both divorced when they met, were not ready to lose their chance at finding happiness again, particularly as they share so much in common, from loving outdoor life, running, horse-riding and having the same taste in music, Lisa said.
Liz Edwards, communications director at Tui UK, said: “No one likes a flight delay but this one was clearly meant to happen.
“We loved Lisa and Jamie’s story and we’re pleased we could be another little part of their journey when they celebrated with friends and family at the weekend.
“We wish them a lifetime of happiness together.”
