  When Corinne, 30, hopped a flight bound for New Zealand, little did she know she'd be picking up the co-pilot. (Shutterstock.com) |
When Corinne, 30, hopped a flight bound for New Zealand, little did she know she'd be picking up the co-pilot.
But from the moment the single Los Angeles-based gal -- who has tried everything from speed dating to looking for love online -- heard about Air New Zealand's first ever Matchmaking Flight, she knew she wanted to be a part of the action.
Forget wasting the 12-hour travel time, single travellers tossed back the bubbly while participating in dating games 30,000 feet in the air.
During the Passport to Love challenge -- which saw singles competing to collect info on flight mates -- Kiwi pilot Dave, 38, was making his way around the plane chatting with passengers.
Corinne, who describes herself as "the eternal single person," saw her chance. Armed with a pen and paper, she headed to the back galley to chat up the handsome navigator.
Not only did Dave jot down his number, he asked her out on a date.
A day after landing, I caught up with Corinne at the Air New Zealand Matchmaking Ball, a soiree held in Auckland to bring local singles and out-of-town love-seekers together.
"You seriously picked up the pilot?" I asked, clearly impressed by her sky-high achievement.
"We've already been out on two dates," she laughed.
"We went to dinner last night and sailing today."
Seems the sparks continued to fly even on solid ground. Not bad for a gal who'd been in the country less than 24 hours.
While Corinne doesn't see distance as a major obstacle, she does admit to being a picky dater.
"I have really high expectations," she says.
"My longest relationship was three months. Basically you date to find the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. If it's really going to be something, you know pretty early on."
It wasn't just Corinne and Dave who were testing the romance waters. Either revellers at the Matchmaking Ball were extremely horny or this was the most ambitious group of singles to ever come together: Everywhere I looked, folks were hooking up. Bodies were pressed up against one another on the dance floor, hands were being held tightly and there was even some lip- locking going on.
"I think it's pretty cool," said Julie, a spirited 30-year-old Kiwi who welcomed the opportunity to expand her dating net beyond New Zealand's singles scene.
"If it was the other way around and it was us flying over there (to the U.S.), I'd do it. Dating here is kind of hard. I find that people are more into having fun than having relationships."
Later on, I spot Julie getting cosy with Scott, a handsome 27-year-old who also happens to be a Kiwi.
"This is not a common occurrence for me," he admitted. "It's an interesting experiment. It's not like a blind date where two people are stuck together all night even when there's nothing there. I am ideally looking for someone close to my age, someone who's good to talk to and is glad to be here."
Turns out, he might've found that in Julie.
A few days later, I heard back that Julie and Scott were still seeing each other. Whether it was the adventure of dating thousands of feet in the air or the prospect of finding a match back down on the ground, this was a journey where anything was possible.
And hey, who knows, somewhere between mid-flight flirting and steamy dance floor rendezvous, a happily-ever-after or two might've actually taken root. Of course, only time will tell.
TANYA.ENBERG@SUNMEDIA.CA
