The Dubai Diaries
My life as a flight attendant in the Middle East!

August Roster & Some Exciting News

My roster for August has just been published, so I thought I’d share it with you guys as I usually do!

I don’t have any new destinations next month, however I’m happy as I got a couple of flights that I bid for. Even though I’m actually at the bottom of the bidding seniority, somehow it seemed to work in my favour!

So in August I’ll be flying to:

  • LGW (London Gatwick)
  • HKG (Hong Kong)
  • BKK (Bangkok)
  • ZRH (Zurich)
  • LHR (London Heathrow)
  • HKG (Hong Kong)
  • LHE (Lahore – turnaround)
  • BKK – HKG – BKK (Bangkok, shuttle to Hong Kong and back, then back to Bangkok)

I requested Bangkok so I could get a good massage – yes, that’s what my life has come to, bidding for flights just so I can get a massage! 😉 I also asked for Hong Kong so I could catch up with my lovely friend and ex-flatmate Kirsty, who I haven’t seen in a while. I actually can’t remember what else I bid for, but it’s a pretty standard roster for me with good flying hours (and only one turnaround!).

In other exciting news … I’m moving up to First Class! I had my assessment yesterday and received an email this morning letting me know that I’d passed! Hopefully I won’t have to wait too long for my training and then I’ll be working in first class instead of business 🙂

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P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world! 🙂

A Flying Visit To Vienna

I was recently selected to part of a special set of crew – taking the A380 on it’s inaugural flight to Vienna! Since I joined Emirates, I’ve been trained to fly on the A380 as well as the 777, and since being part of the business class team (coming up to 2 years now) I fly more on the A380 than the 777. She really is huge (519 passengers at maximum capacity, as well as 26 crew members) but most of us love it, and there’s something a bit special about having a real-life bar onboard!

I could feel the excited atmosphere as soon as I arrived in the briefing room, and it was quite a few of the crew’s first time to Vienna. Having lived in Austria for 6 years before moving to Dubai I’m quite familiar with the city, and unfortunately none of my friends or family were able to make it this time, so I planned to have a relaxing layover in the city.

We were just about ready to take off, when we were informed of a water leak in the first class galley, which resulted in us returning to the gate so an engineer could come onboard and fix it. After an hour and a half delay, we were finally off!

The flight went nice and smoothly (after the initial hiccup!), and upon arriving in VIE, we were greeted with a water canon salute, a tradition for inaugural flights.

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Since my jumpseat was located at the back of the aircraft, it was more of a trickle by the time it got to us, but nevertheless it was pretty cool to watch from the onboard cameras.

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July Roster

After an absolutely delightfully easy roster this month, it’s back to regular flying in July. I’m at the bottom of the seniority rotation, and should have been on reserve, but somehow managed to get a pretty normal roster.

On an exciting note, I’ve been put on the inaugural A380 flight to Vienna on the 1st of July! If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you may remember that I used to live in Austria before moving to Dubai (for 6 years, although not in Vienna) so I am excited to be heading back! I get rostered plenty of flights to Germany and Switzerland being a German Speaker, but very rarely to Vienna!

Other than that I’ll be heading off to:

  • VIE (Vienna, Austria, the inaugural A380 flight, I’m hoping for a water canon salute when we land!)
  • SIN (Singapore)
  • DEL (Dehli, India, a shortish turnaround)
  • ZRH (Zurich, Switzerland)
  • DOH (Doha, Qatar, one of the shortest turnaround flights we have – about 45 minutes each way!)
  • ZRH (Zurich, Switzerland)
  • BHX (Birmingham, UK)
  • JFK (New York, USA)

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Only 2 turnarounds this month, and relatively short ones which is not too bad. I even have one new destination, Birmingham, which I was rostered to fly to a while back but never ended up going (I can’t remember why, I think I swapped it or must have been off sick!). Any suggestions for what to do there are most welcome, as I’m fairly sure most of the crew just go shopping!

My JFK flight is one of the tougher ones, as it’s around a 13-14 hour flight each way, and only a 24 hour layover! I’ll still try and get out and do as much as I can, especially as it should hopefully be nice and warm there.

I’m looking forward to another month of flying, and of course I’ll keep you updated in case of any swaps!

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P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world! 🙂

Beach days in Mauritius

I was lucky enough to be rostered two flights to Mauritius this month, and since I’ve already spent a couple of holidays there and seen a lot of the beautiful sights that the country has to offer, I knew they would be the perfect chance to relax on the beach!

We arrived just as the sun was beginning to set, and unfortunately by the time we got to our beautiful resort it was already beginning to get dark. Most of the crew met for a cocktail at the bar, and then we enjoyed the huge buffet dinner spread, before calling it a night.

The next morning I set my alarm just in time to wake up for the sunrise – I was hoping for a beautiful pink sky, which I didn’t see, but it was nevertheless a great start to the day.

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I lay out on my terrace, listening to the sound of the birds chirping and gentle waves crashing.

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A stroll through Notting Hill

I’m not a London girl, but I don’t complain (much) when I get a flight to Heathrow as it usually means a trip home to see my parents. This time around however, they were on holiday, so I decided to make the most of the spring weather and head into London town.

Myself and one of the other girls from the flight, Kamila, jumped on the tube and since she used to live in London, I let her do the navigating!

We got out at Bayswater, which is just one stop along the tube line from Notting Hill Gate, and had a lovely stroll through the streets, enjoying the beautiful sunny weather and fresh air.

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