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

April Roster

It’s time for another roster post, and next month I actually have a new destination! That’s two months in a row with new places to explore, one of the main reasons I chose this job.

After nearly 6 and a half years here, it feels like I get some of the same destinations quite frequently, but there are still new routes launching all the time for me to tick off the list. 

Next month I’ll be heading off to:

  • MAA – Chennai, India (Turnaround)
  • Annual Leave
  • KBL – Kabul, Afghanistan (Turnaround)
  • GVA – Geneva, Switzerland
  • MUC – Munich, Germany
  • IAD – Washington D.C., USA
  • BRU – Brussels, Belgium

Starting off the month with a turnaround to Chennai and back, which is quite a long one (blocked at 4 hours each way), just before my leave starts.

I then have a week off, and I think I’ll fly home and see my family this time. I haven’t had a Stansted layover in a while (the last one was on my birthday in October!) so it’ll be nice to spend some time at home in spring.

After my leave is another turnaround, this time to Kabul and back. I’m hoping that somehow I might be able to swap this for a day off to extend my leave but I’m also realistic that this doesn’t happen often!

Up next is a trip to Geneva – I was originally rostered Moscow and when someone sent me the swap I jumped at the chance to visit Geneva again (and more importantly, eat some cheese fondue!). Last time I went was in the middle of winter so I’m hoping it’ll be much warmer now.

Then a flight to Munich, which is a nice easy layover.

Following on from that is my new destination of the month – Washington! It’s the only one of our US destinations that I haven’t visited, and although it’s just a short 24 hour layover I’m hoping to make the most of it and do some exploring.

My final trip of the month is a 42 hour layover in Brussels. I’ve been here before in summer and I really enjoyed it, and due to the runway closure in Dubai we have some extended layovers, so I’ll try and get to Bruges this time, which I’ve heard is just beautiful.

I’m looking forward to ticking off a new destination, as well as re-visiting some old favourites.

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

A Flying Visit To Edinburgh, Scotland

It’s been many years since I’ve visited Scotland. Although Emirates has been flying to Glasgow since before I joined, I have never been rostered the flight, so the last time I went must have been as a child on a family holiday!

So you can imagine how pleased I was when I managed to swap my London Heathrow flight for a trip to Edinburgh! It was also a slightly longer layover than usual which was great.

Unfortunately the weather forecast for our arrival was not looking great, and we were greeted with dark, cloudy skies and pouring rain.

Nevertheless, since it was my first time here, I wanted to make the most of my layover and see as much of the city as I could.

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A Sunny Stroll Through Munich

A couple of weeks I flew off to sunny Munich, and since my brother no longer lives there and his girlfriend was also out of town, I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to head into the city.

It’s actually been a while since I’ve been into Munich city centre, so one of the girls and I jumped on the underground and were there in no time, ready for a nice walk around.

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March Roster

Finally, my reserve month is over! It felt like a much longer month than usual, and I was kept busy with lots of flights.

If you didn’t manage to keep up on Instagram, I went to Warsaw, Jeddah (x2), London Gatwick, Dallas, Johannesburg and Bombay. I also had 2 airport standbys where I didn’t get used. All in all plenty to keep me busy, although I have to say most of my layovers were spent relaxing, eating and going to the gym! 

Next month I have some nice flights, and will be heading off to:

  • MLE – Male, Maldives (turnaround)
  • BKK – Bangkok, Thailand
  • KRT – Khartoum, Sudan (turnaround)
  • BP – Business Promotions Event
  • LHR – London Heathrow, UK
  • VIE – Vienna, Austria
  • HKG x2 – Hong Kong

Both the Male and Khartoum turnarounds are quite long days (around 4 hours each way) so although sadly I don’t get to stay in the Maldives, it will be plenty of flying hours.

Funnily enough I’ve been bidding for Bangkok for months with no luck, and now when I didn’t bid for it, I got one! I’m already looking forward to some Pad Thai and a massage.

Then I have a BP event, which I’m still waiting to hear the details about.

Up next is a Heathrow, which I would love to swap for a Stansted to be able to go home, but I’m not holding out too much hope for that one!

Following on from Heathrow is Vienna! Again, a flight that I didn’t bid for but am always happy to see on my roster. 

Last up are two flights to Hong Kong, one of my favourite destinations and one that I did bid for. My lovely friend and old flatmate Kirsty is due to give birth very soon, so I’ll be able to meet her baby which I’m very excited about!

I also have 4 days off towards the end of the month, and am trying to plan a little trip away somewhere not too far from Dubai. Any suggestions?!

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

A Rodeo in Fort Worth, Texas

A home standby from 9pm – 5am meant I was refreshing my roster all day, hoping that a nice flight would appear. 9pm on the dot, after having unsuccessfully tried to sleep for a few hours, DFW appeared! I have to say, I was expecting to get a long flight as I’d had two days off prior (the legal requirement for us to get a ULR – ultra long range – flight), but I didn’t expect it to be Dallas, as I have one rostered in 2 weeks time!

Never mind, I quickly got up and packed my suitcase, waiting for crew control to ring and confirm the flight.

Departure time was scheduled for 2:50am, so the least I could hope for was that my passengers would go straight to sleep. Luckily I was also finally back to working in first class!

Flight time was a long 15 hours and 20 minutes, and as I was first to go on break, it felt like the longest 15 hours ever! 

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