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

July Roster

This month rosters came out a little earlier than usual, which was a nice surprise!

I got 2 of my bids, as well as a couple of other flights which I didn’t ask for.

Starting off the month is my trip to Brussels which rolls over from June, and then:

  • BOM – Bombay, India (turnaround)
  • SYD – CHC – SYD – Sydney, Australia & Christchurch, New Zealand
  • VIE – Vienna, Austria
  • STN – London Stansted, UK
  • (LHR – London Heathrow, UK) – Since changed to HKG – Hong Kong
  • STN – London Stansted, UK

As usual there’s one turnaround in there, fairly standard for every roster!

Then I have a 5 day multi-sector to Sydney and Christchurch which I’m actually quite looking forward to, as it’s been ages since I last visited Sydney and Christchurch will be a new destination for me!

After that I have a trip to Vienna – you may know I used to live in Austria (in a small town called Klagenfurt) for 6 years, so I will see if my brother or any of my Austrian friends are around to catch up there.

Then I have 3 trips to the UK! I did bid for Stansted, as it’s so close to home it’s now very easy for me to visit my family on the layover, although I didn’t bid for Heathrow so I will see if I’m able to swap that. Update – since writing this post I’ve swapped it for a Hong Kong, one of my favourites!

That’s it! Another month with a lot of flying, and a new destination on the other side of the world to visit!

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

June Roster

It’s that time of the month again!

Another exciting roster ahead as Emirates will shortly be launching a new destination which makes it super easy for me to go home on a layover, Stansted Airport! Perhaps not as exciting for all the crew who think of it as “London” Stansted, but great news for me.

So here goes, my roster for June, starting off the month landing from my flight to Dallas, and then:

  • Leave
  • BRU – Brussels, Belgium
  • STN – London Stansted, UK
  • STN – London Stansted, UK
  • KBL – Kabul, Afghanistan
  • AMM – Amman, Jordan
  • BAH – Bahrain, Bahrain
  • CDG – Paris, France
  • BRU – Brussels, Belgium

As you can see, despite having leave it’s still a very busy month. I actually don’t have any plans as of yet for the leave – so if anyone has any suggestions for a nice European getaway, I’m all ears!

Back to flying with a trip to Brussels, I visited this city with my best friend Lucy when we went inter-railing almost 6 years ago, but haven’t been back since. I’m thinking of heading to Bruges on one of the layovers, following in the footsteps of a fellow Emirates blogger here.

Then it’s two trips home to Stansted, one of which is on my mum’s birthday – what a lovely surprise! I most likely won’t be blogging about these ones as I’ll probably just be relaxing at home with my family.

After that it’s a bit of a tough week – three back to back turnarounds to Kabul, Amman, and Bahrain, and  a Paris straight after. It’s actually been a while since I’ve been to Paris, you can read about my last visit (in 2014!) here (with a friend I made through my blog!).

Lastly another layover in Brussels. As I have two trips to Belgium next month, perhaps I will try and swap one, so stay tuned!

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

May Roster

Once again roster day has come round so quickly, I can’t quite believe we’re over halfway through April already! Summer is slowly starting to arrive in Dubai and it’s heating up, so I’ll be glad to get out of the country once it gets even hotter.

Next month I’ll be heading off to:

  • NBO – Nairobi, Kenya
  • ORD – Chicago, USA
  • ALG – Algiers, Algeria
  • SEZ – Mahé, Seychelles
  • KRT – Khartoum, Sudan
  • MAD – Madrid, Spain
  • DFW – Dallas, USA

As you can see – quite a varied roster next month!

First up is a trip to Nairobi, which I’m hoping to swap as I have a family event in the UK that I would love to attend, so stay updated for that one.

After that is Chicago (which I first thought was Orlando, despite having just been there and knowing that the airport code is MCO – oops!) and it’s been a few years since I last visited. We used to stay right in the city but I think the hotel has changed to an airport one now, so I’m not sure what I’ll get up to on my layover there.

Next is a flight to Algiers, which is right at the beginning of Ramadan. I’m not sure how strict they are there, but if it’s similar to Dubai I might try and swap that as I’m guessing there won’t be too much to do if everything is closed for Ramadan.

Then I have another trip to the Seychelles – after bidding for this flight for years it’s finally taken me 5,5 years to get it in April, and now they’ve rostered me a second one in May! No complaints here, as I’m sure it will be beautiful.

My only turnaround (unless I can swap my Nairobi) in May is to Khartoum, a flight I haven’t done before. It’s long – around 4 hours each way, so hopefully I won’t be too tired afterwards!

After that is a layover in Madrid. It’s been a while since I’ve visited, and hopefully my sister Lizzie, who lives in Valencia, will be able to come and stay so we can go out and explore.

Lastly is a trip to Dallas, a new destination for me. I’ll have to do some research about what there is to do there – maybe a Texan rodeo?!

Stay tuned on here as always to see what I get up to next month on all of my trips.

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

April Roster

It’s that time of the month again! Are you ready for my April roster? March was my top bid, and although I was happy to receive most of the flights I asked for, I actually have another great month ahead!

I have two new destinations (that I didn’t even bid for!) and some other great flights that I did ask for. In April I’ll be flying to:

  • JED – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (turnaround)
  • COK – Cochin, India
  • ATH – Athens, Greece
  • BKK – Bangkok, Thailand
  • MEL – Melbourne, Australia
  • HKG – Hong Kong
  • SEZ – Mahé, Seychelles

Only one turnaround, a fairly quick one to Jeddah and back. After that it’ll be my first time to India! I have done plenty of turnarounds to India and back, but this is the first time I’ve actually been rostered to stay there. If anyone has any tips of what to do or what to see in Cochin, please let me know!

Then it’s off to Athens – the last time I was there was winter last year so I’m hoping that Spring will have sprung and it’ll be beautiful and sunny.

Next up is a flight to Bangkok, which was one of my bids. Recently almost all of our Bangkok flights have been operating without a first class, which means I haven’t been there in ages. I’ve been craving some delicious Thai food and of course a wonderful Thai massage, and that’s exactly what I’ll be doing once I’m there!

After that I’ve got a layover in Melbourne – if you’ve read my blog for a while you may remember that my cousin Sarah lives there, and as it’s over a Friday and Saturday we should be able to get a good catch up in.

Then it’s a trip to Hong Kong, which was also one of my bids, to see my friends Kirsty and Dan and their baby Theo. I can’t wait!

My last trip of the month is a short but sweet layover in the Seychelles – another new destination to tick off the list! It’ll only be an afternoon and evening there, but I’m fully intending to make the most of my short time there. Let’s hope the weather is nice!

So there we have it, another exciting month to look forward to. Thanks as always for reading!

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

March Roster

Once again roster day has come round quickly, and with March being my top bid month, I was keeping my fingers crossed for some good flights.

Considering I have leave in the middle of the month, I actually got 3 of the flights which I asked for, which I am really happy about! I even have a new destination at the end of the month, which is always great 🙂

In March I’ll be starting off the month landing from a flight to Zurich, and then heading off to:

  • BCN – Barcelona, Spain
  • NRT – Narita, Japan
  • NRT – Narita, Japan
  • Leave
  • DEL – Dehli, India (turnaround)
  • DEL – Dehli, India (turnaround)
  • MCO – Orlando, USA

I bid for all of those destinations except Dehli, so I’m very pleased with most of my roster!

Barcelona is one of my favourite European cities, and even more excitingly I’ll only be working half of the trip, as we get to fly back to Dubai as passengers, also known as deadheading! This is usually due to an aircraft change or extra flight.

Then two trips to Narita – I’m keeping all of my fingers crossed it’s not too early for cherry blossom season. I’ve been to Tokyo with my family in the past, and have done a flight to Osaka with Emirates, but this will be my first time operating the flight to Narita. Any tips are more than welcome! 🙂

After that I have 5 days leave, and will probably head home, as it’s been a while since I’ve been to stay with my parents. My brother and his girlfriend will also be there at the same time (they live in Munich) with their puppy!

I get back from my leave to two not ideal trips to Dehli – departing at night and getting back after sunrise. Who knows – maybe somebody will swap with me for a layover, but I’m not very optimistic!

To round off the month, I have a 50 hour layover in Orlando! It’ll be my first time there, and I’m hoping to go to Disneyland 🙂

An exciting month ahead, with a couple of new destinations for me.

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