Milan Schipper,18, is a student from Vaassen in the Netherlands. He made up his mind to take a trip to Australia for a working holiday. Reportedly Schipper was planning on “enjoying the land.” Schipper was thrilled when he managed to find some extremely cheap flights to Sydney and immediately booked his tickets, paying a mere $853 for the privilege. There was only one problem with those cheap flights, however, as they were heading to Sydney in Nova Scotia, Canada and not Australia.
Heading to the wrong Sydney
CBC Radio interviewed Schipper, who said he didn’t realize what was happening until he arrived in Canada.
He said he really thought he was heading to Australia, but that things turned out a little differently than planned. He said he was in Toronto and that the plane looked really small. He asked himself at the time if it could make it all the way to Australia. Once he was seated on the plane, he discovered his error. While checking the destination screen on the back of the seat in front of him, Schipper saw the flight was about to turn right, then left. It was at that time he suddenly realized there was another Sydney in the world and he was heading to the wrong one.
According to Schipper, he totally blames himself, adding that most flights heading from Amsterdam to Sydney cost around $1,066. He did think at the time that the $853 seemed a little too cheap, but never imagined what would happen to him.
Dutch student accidentally flies to the wrong Sydney https://t.co/f1elnwNO2R
— Mark E. W. Hudson (@MEWH) April 2, 2017
According to the Telegraph, he said he felt terrible and swore in his head for around 10 minutes, but there wasn’t much he could do about it, as he was already in the air. The errant student reportedly only stayed in the Nova Scotia version of Sydney for around five hours, which was lucky, as Schipper wasn’t exactly dressed for the occasion.
He was expecting a sunnier Sydney, but ended up in a freezing cold town instead. He then made his way to Toronto, where he had to wait 12 hours in the airport to get a flight home.
Dutch student’s chilly surprise when he arrives in Sydney, Nova Scotia rather than Sydney, Australia https://t.co/2LnWmVS427 pic.twitter.com/ruFuVCzSKo
— Telegraph News (@TelegraphNews) March 31, 2017
Airline gives Dutch student free tickets to Sydney, Australia
As it turns out, Schipper got lucky in Toronto, as an airline took pity on his plight and gave Schipper free tickets for a later flight to Sydney, Australia. However, he’s not sure if he will have the time to use those tickets, as he’s reportedly starting school again.
