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

February Roster

Another month, another roster! January is already flying by, and it’s been a fairly uneventful month so far. I did say I would try to make the most of my layovers, but most of them have been spent alternating between sleeping, working out and drinking lots of coffee!

Let’s see where next month will take me:

  • STN – London Stansted, UK
  • VIE – Vienna, Austria
  • BHX – Birmingham, UK
  • KHI – Karachi, Pakistan (turnaround)
  • FRA – Frankfurt, Germany
  • MLE – Male, Maldives (turnaround)
  • RUH – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (turnaround)
  • KUL – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • BP – Business Promotion
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is LgfAqzUzTZKIe6e9cVduzw-e1579944113912.jpg

First up is a trip home, which I’m very happy about! The only one of my bids that I got, and although I would have loved 2 Stansteds, I’m still grateful I get to go home and see my parents.

Following on from that is a flight to Vienna – I did bid for this in December to go and see the Christmas markets, but perhaps this time there will be some snow.

Straight after is Birmingham, which I’ve only visited once. I have been to Stratford-upon-Avon which is nearby; a beautiful quaint English town which happens to be the birthplace of Shakespeare! Highly recommended for a day trip.

Next up will be a turnaround to Karachi and back. I haven’t done this flight in a while as it is two-class, i.e. no first class, so I wasn’t rostered it while I was working in first class.

Then I have a flight to Frankfurt, which I have visited plenty of times in the past. I’m not sure what I’ll do there, as I expect it’ll be pretty chilly!

I’ve then been rostered two more turnarounds, to Male and Riyadh. Male is one of the longest turnarounds we have and it’s a pretty tiring one, as you fly through the night. The pilots also get to stay in the Maldives for 24 hours while we just go there and back! 

My last flight of February will be to Kuala Lumpur. I was actually rostered this flight in January as well, however swapped it for a quick trip to Milan. So I’m hoping for a nice flight to KL next month with some delicious street food! Someone has sent me a swap for Phnom Penh – which one would you take?

Lastly is a business promotion event – I haven’t done one of these since I started the cabin supervisor pool, so I’m very excited! I should find out soon which event I’ll be representing the company at.

So even though February is the shortest month of the year, somehow I have a very busy roster with 8 flights and a BP event! Let’s hope it’s a good one 🙂

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Signature-small-icon-1.png

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

December Roster

The final roster of 2019 is here! It’s been a great year and I’ve visited many of my favourite destinations, as well as a few new ones.

I’ve also worked my way up from FG1 (first class crew) to CSV (cabin supervisor) which has been a new challenge but something that I am enjoying so far, although it’s very different!

I haven’t been posting much on here the past few months as I’ve been preparing things for my CSV “pool”, as it’s called – the 6 month probation period that we have to pass. 

For the last month of the year I’ll be heading off to some familiar destinations and hopefully enjoying the Christmas spirit around the world! My roster next month looks like this:

  • SEP 
  • VIE – Vienna, Austria
  • SYD – Sydney, Australia
  • CAI – Cairo, Egypt (turnaround)
  • AMS – Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Leave
  • VIE – Vienna, Austria

First up are my annual exams – time to get studying! We have 2 full-on days of exams every year and this time it’s at the beginning of the month, which means I can get them out of the way before Christmas.

Then I have a trip to Vienna which I’m very excited about – I love Austria at Christmastime and I’ll definitely be checking out the beautiful markets and drinking some Glühwein!

Following on from that, a 43 hour layover in Sydney. This is a bit longer than our usual Australian layovers so I’m very much looking forward to 2 days Down Under. While I’m there it’ll also be exactly 7 years since I joined Emirates and moved to Dubai!

After that is my one turnaround of the month, Cairo. A fairly long day as the flights are around 3,5 – 4 hours each way … but at least it’s not as long as the two Istanbul turnarounds I’ve just done!

Then I have a flight to Amsterdam – I think it’s been around 2 years since I last visited. I’ll definitely be going into the city and having a wander around as it’s such a beautiful place.

That’s the last flight before my leave, which I’ll be spending at home with my family of course! It’s over Christmas which I’m very happy about, and although we usually spend it in Austria I think we’re planning to stay in England this year. Looking quite unlikely for a white Christmas but you never know!

My final flight of the year is another layover in Vienna. I’ll be landing back into Dubai  just before midnight on New Year’s Eve – so I’ll most likely be bringing in 2020 collecting blankets and headsets on the plane! 

Thanks as always for following along with my journey at Emirates and reading my blog!

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

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! 🙂

Adventures in Vienna, Austria


When I got my roster last month and saw that I had a flight to Vienna coming up, I knew I was in for a treat. My school friend Iris sent me a message asking if I had any plans, and we soon made one, for her to come up and stay for 24 hours.

We try to catch up whenever possible, but it’s usually only once or twice a year, depending on how often I’m able to get back to Austria. She had taken the bus from her hometown Klagenfurt (where I also lived for 6 years) to come and meet me in Vienna, and was waiting in our hotel when I arrived from Dubai.

We immediately changed and got ready to head out into the city.

It was around a 30 minute stroll to the city centre, and it was so good to catch up as we walked!

View Post

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! 🙂