Couple engaged after Bournemouth Airport flight delay romance

Two holidaymakers who met at an airport while waiting for their delayed flight are getting married.

Lisa Skellon and Jamie Hobbs met when jetting off on separate holidays from Bournemouth Airport to Tenerife in November 2019.

When a problem meant they had to get off the plane, they flirted over drinks in the departure lounge.

Ms Skellon said it was "love at first sight" for the couple, who are tying the knot in September.

The pair were flying separately with groups of friends, who all headed for drinks on their return to the terminal.

The two groups mingled and, when it was time to get back on the plane, Ms Skellon and Mr Hobbs, both 56, had already found a spark.

Ms Skellon said she was "grateful for the delay".

"We probably would not have met if it wasn't for that," she said.

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."

When the Tui flight took off, the groups were two rows from each other and the pair 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."

Mr Hobbs, 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'."

The love story continued on holiday, where the pair met every night, and their relationship blossomed when they came home to England.

Mr Hobbs and Ms Skellon then shared lockdown together in Ferndown, Dorset, along with her daughter, and the couple are set to marry in Paphos, Cyprus, in September.

The couple, who were both divorced when they met, share a lot in common, including running, horse riding and the same taste in music.

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