Lovesick couple's mid-flight miss

A lovesick couple passed each other mid-flight when they both tried to surprise their partner with a round the world visit.

Ian Johnstone, who was working as a bricklayer in Australia took a flight back to the Yorkshire home he shared with his girlfriend Amy Dolby with the intention of proposing to her.

But at the same time his girlfriend of five years Miss Dolby was on her way to Sydney to surprise him.

The couple even both had stopovers in Singapore at the same time.

It was as though someone was playing a cruel joke

Amy Dolby

Mr Johnstone, 27, had been in Australia since January, mostly keeping in touch with his girlfriend back in Ben Rhydding, West Yorkshire, by e-mail.

He arrived at their flat laden with champagne, flowers and an engagement ring only to find it empty.

He was woken in the night by a phonecall from a bemused Miss Dolby, who was 11,000 miles away in Sydney, wondering where he was.

She told the Daily Telegraph: "It was as though someone was playing a cruel joke.

"I was shaking like a leaf when I got to his apartment.

"I knocked and one of Ian's flatmates answered. When I told him I'd come to see Ian he went white."

The couple ended up spending two weeks apart, and will not see each other again until Mr Johnstone's return at Christmas, when he says he is looking forward to putting the engagement ring on her finger.