Mario Andres Mantilla Ardila was searching for flights to the French City of Love when the mishap took place, meaning he bought a ticket to the wrong country altogether
A student nearly ended up in Greece after buying a ticket for Paros instead of Paris. Mario Andres Mantilla Ardila was searching for flights to the French City of Love when the mishap took place. The 22-year-old aspiring architect typed ‘Paros’ instead of ‘Paris’ and ended up with a ticket to the Greek island in the Aegean Sea, located west of Naxos. Luckily, the Colombian, who also works as a graphic designer, realised the mistake before boarding the plane. But not before posting a video on TikTok that quickly went viral with 9.2m views and thousands of comments. He jokingly captioned the clip: “I had to go to Paris, but because I’m dyslexic, I bought a flight to Paros.”
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Images showed his plane ticket from the Colombian capital Bogotá to Paros. The young man was due to board the plane in seat 28F. It also showed him holding his hand over his mouth in shock. The open-ended clip left many TikTok users wondering whether he accidentally ended up in Greece. But Mario told What’s The Jam : “I quickly realised and managed to change it to the correct ticket. I uploaded the video to TikTok as a funny anecdote, never imagining it would get so many views or go viral. The reason I had to travel to Paris was to participate in a volunteer program in Viviers, Ardèche, where I’m currently helping restore the Maison des Chevaliers, a historic 14th-century building. “As an architecture student, this experience has been incredible, allowing me to learn traditional restoration techniques, gain a closer understanding of heritage preservation, and contribute to the protection of a unique place. Beyond the technical aspects, the programme also focuses on cultural exchange and community service, making it even more meaningful.” He added: “Although I didn’t end up travelling to Paros, seeing images and videos of the island, I would love to visit it sometime in the future as it seems like a wonderful destination.” One local said, “Believe me, Paros is much better than Paris.” Valery added, “Now I want to visit Paros, it looks beautiful.” Ale remarked: “My brother once confused Switzerland for Sweden.”
The prospect of flying to the wrong country by mistake is not a new one. A long running claim has circulated on the internet that Salzburg Airport in Austria has a help desk specifically for people who intended to fly to Australia.
However, sadly, it’s not true. The European airport recently confirmed it does not have a desk for misguided tourists trying to get Down Under. The misconception stems from an advertisement for a technology company that ran on a baggage carousel at the airport, which joked about offering such a service.
Salzburg Airport wrote in a Facebook post written in German that no such counter or button exists and that the sign seen in some of the posts is actually an advertisement for Commend, an Austrian communication and security technology company.