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

An Adventure in Algiers

At the end of last month I was rostered a flight to Copenhagen on Christmas Day, however I was desperate not to fly on Christmas so I sent out about 50 swaps, the majority of which I can’t even remember which destinations they were! So when one got accepted it was a complete surprise to see that I would have a 48 hour layover in Algiers!

I was looking forward to it; a new destination and a nice long layover.

It was an early start, but we watched the sunrise accompanied by plenty of planes taking off whilst waiting for our passengers!

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The flight over to Algiers was a nice one. Just over 6 hours, and although it was a full cabin in business class we managed the service quickly and easily.

Since we had a whole full day the next day to explore, we decided just to go for some dinner in the hotel that evening.

I was greeted by a beautiful sunrise the next morning, although the temperature was a chilly 7 degrees!

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January Roster

Hi guys!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas & New Year. I certainly did; I spent my Christmas in Mauritius which was absolutely lovely, and I will post some pictures up on here asap.

I usually post my roster at the end of the month, but since I was so busy with Christmas and then flying straight after my leave, I just haven’t got round to it.

This month I’ve already done my first flight – a trip to LHR. I had a lovely layover at my parent’s house, where mum cooked a delicious roast dinner!

My next flight is to WAW – Warsaw in Poland. I’m very excited as it’s somewhere I’ve never been before and I love exploring new destinations. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to put some pictures up on here! If you have any tips or must-do’s, please do share.

And after that…I’m on reserve!

Finally after over 3 years in the company it’s caught up with me and I’ll be checking my roster everyday at 6pm to see where I’ll end up the next day.

Somehow I’ve managed to avoid getting reserve the whole time I’ve been here (usually by scheduling my leave during my supposed reserve month) but the bidding system has changed which means it’s my turn to play the waiting game all month. It’ll be interesting to see where I end up; I’m hoping for at least one long-haul flight to get my hours up and hopefully a couple of nice layovers!

So that’s it I’m afraid – not a very exciting roster this month, but you never know, I could end up in a totally new destination 🙂

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

A Hike in Hong Kong

I recently got back from a lovely trip to one of my favourite cities, Hong Kong!

As soon as I saw it on my roster I made sure to tell my lovely friend (and ex-flatmate) Kirsty to get ready for some fun! The flight over was nice and easy, and we arrived in the afternoon.

Kirsty is back to teaching, which is what she was doing before she was a flight attendant, so after she finished school I headed over to her and her husband’s apartment. She’d told me to bring my trainers as we were going to hike up the Peak!

After a quick look around their apartment, we were off. Dan (her husband) would join us later for dinner, good choice on his part as it was a pretty steep hike!

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We made our way to the Peak and started the climb up just as the sun was beginning to set. We managed not to stop too many times on the way up but it was a challenge, that’s for sure!

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Christmas Markets in Munich

I’ve just got back from a very festive trip to Munich. For once I was happy when I saw MUC on my roster as I knew December would be the perfect time to visit the Christmas market!

The flight over was nice and easy, with most of our passengers sleeping through the flight, having connected from Australia or Asia.

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We arrived into Munich around lunchtime, and I messaged my brother Matt, who lives there, to let him know I’d arrived at the hotel. He set off to come and meet me, and after a quick shower and change I was ready to go. Matt arrived at my hotel and we were ready to hit the markets!

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December Roster

It’s that time of the month again…my December roster has been published! It was my “bottom bid” this month, so I wasn’t expecting too much.

In fact I really should be studying for my upcoming exams but instead I’m procrastinating and writing my blog!

In December I’ll be heading to:

  • ATH (Athens turnaround – a very long day!)
  • SEP (2 full days of Safety & Emergency procedures – my yearly exams)
  • BOM (Bombay turnaround)
  • MUC (Munich – can’t wait for the Christmas market!)
  • MAN (I was rostered Jakarta originally, but swapped for Manchester to get some Christmas shopping done!)
  • 5 days leave (just before Christmas, plus a few days off before my leave officially starts)
  • CPH (Copenhagen – on Christmas Day, which I am desperately trying to swap!!)
  • HKG (Hong Kong)

So a couple of turnarounds, and a few of the usual destinations. Munich should be lovely this time of year, I’m hoping for some snow. As my brother Matt lives there (and he does;t have university on the day I’m there) we’ll go to see the Christmas markets which should be very pretty.

I will most likely be heading to Mauritius on my leave (again!) and am sending hundreds of swaps to get rid of my Copenhagen so I can at least have Christmas Day off….I’ll keep you posted!

For now, it’s back to the books, wish me luck in my exams! 🙂

EDIT: Within about half an hour of posting this, someone accepted one of my many swaps!

Instead of heading to Copenhagen and Hong Kong, I’ll now be doing a quick KWI (Kuwait turnaround) which gives me Christmas off, and then heading to ALG (Algiers) for a 48 hour layover. I’d love any tips, as it will be my first time there! 🙂