Jakarta: It has been a year since the fear of COVID-19 entered our lives. Travelling is no more the same as the novel coronavirus is hovering around us. A man from Jakarta took travelling in the times of COVID-19 to a whole new level by booking an entire flight to Bali, just to protect him and his partner from the deadly virus.
According to the reports of Mashable SE Asia, Richard Muljadi, the famous Jakarta socialite and entrepreneur, booked an entire flight to Bali because of his fear of the novel coronavirus. On January 4, Muljadi posted on his Instagram stories on to tell his followers that he booked the entire flight for him and his wife, Shalvynne Chang, as both of them were paranoid of getting the deadly virus.
The photo shared by him showed him sitting in a flight with empty seats. He included a caption, which read, "After I'd book(ed) as many seats as possible, it was still cheaper than chattering (chartering) a PJ (private jet). That's the trick fellas. #LIFEHACKS."
Muljabi, who took social distancing to the extreme, said in another post, "Had to make sure no one else (was on) this flight. We ain't flying unless it's just us." His thread of Instagram stories ended with, "Bye, ghost ship."
However, the story does not end here. A local publication of Jakarta, called the Detik Travel, reported that the group that owns Batik Air, the Lion Air Group have confirmed that Muljadi and his wife were on board the flight ID-6502 from Jakarta to Denpasar, Bali. They were on board on January 5. But to everyone's surprise, the airline said that Muljadi booked tickets for only two passengers, that is, for him and his wife, contradicting his claims of booking the entire flight. Many still believed Muljadi's claim as he is well-known for his extravagant spending.