I went to the Horn of Africa in December 2024 to some of the least visited places on Earth: Socotra, Somaliland, Djibouti and Eritrea.
Here’s my full itinerary:
Keflavík to London Luton, Easyjet
London Gatwick to Dubai, Emirates, economy class
Abu Dhabi to Socotra, Air Arabia
Socotra to Abu Dhabi, Air Arabia
Dubai to Hargeisa, FlyDubai, business class
Hargeisa to Addis, Ethiopian, economy class
Addis to Djibouti, Ethiopian, economy class
Djibouti to Addis, Ethiopian, economy class
Addis to Jeddah, Saudia, economy class
Jeddah to Asmara, Flynas, economy class
Asmara to Dubai, FlyDubai, business class
Dubai to Frankfurt, Emirates, business class
I was not supposed to fly on Emirates at all on this day. I arrived from Keflavík, Iceland to London Luton the previous day at about 13.00. I cleared security again (it took 30 minutes), went back to the departure area at Luton Airport, had lunch at the Nolito restaurant (the steak was average but the service was one of the friendliest and most attentive I've ever had in an airport restaurant), then went to the lounge called MyLounge (it's nice and spacious but the food and drink options are very limited), and I was waiting for my Wizzair flight to Belgrade where I was supposed to take a Qatar Airways flight in business class to Abu Dhabi via Doha the next day. But due to strong crosswinds my inbound plane couldn't land at Luton, was diverted first to Stansted where it also couldn't land, and it eventually landed in Birmingham. The plane was then supposed to fly back to Luton. My flight to Belgrade, scheduled at 18.55, was first delayed to 20.30, 21.00, 21.20 and 21.55 but then was cancelled at 21.00 after I had been waiting at the airport for eight hours.
I quickly booked a direct Emirates flight in economy from London Gatwick to Dubai for the next day. Quite miraculously, despite booking only about 13 hours before departure and the flight being almost completely full, it was cheap at £466 one way.
I left the airport (a long way as I had to go to the exit near gate 6), took a shuttle bus to the car park, took an Uber from Luton to Gatwick (£105, about 80 minutes), checked in on-line in the car for my flight next morning, selected the last available aisle seat with the next seat empty, booked a hotel near Gatwick, messaged the transfer company in Belgrade that I was not coming, requested a refund for my Wizzair flight that had been cancelled and cancelled my Qatar Airways and requested a refund. Check-in to my hotel near Gatwick was painfully slow and chaotic but I was in my hotel room before midnight. I booked a fast track security for £6 only for the next day before I went to sleep
The next morning at 07.40 I took a shuttle bus to Gatwick North.
I had checked in on-line and I only had hand luggage so I could skip the long lines at check-in.
Thanks to the pre-purchased fast track access I was through security in two minutes.
I went upstairs to the crowded Starbucks "lounge" where I had a capuccino and a pain au chocolat for £7.10
I booked a hotel in Dubai while drinking my capuccino, then went to the gate where boarding was already under way and there was zero waiting time.
I almost never fly economy on long-haul flights but my first impressions were quite good: a friendly and welcoming crew, a nice cabin and a quite OK legroom.
I had seat 77H. The seat next to mine remained empty and another passenger came to window seat.
A pillow, a blanket and headphones were waiting on my seat.
The headphones were quite good for economy.
The screen was quite large.
Emirates offer in-flight Wi-Fi which I haven't tried.
I started the flight by watching a movie. There are hundreds of movies in 72 categories, enough for flying several times around the Globe.
More categories:
TV shows have 34 categories.
Music has 64 categories
Live TV has five channels.
I couldn't believe what I saw a short time later: the crew offered to take photos of some of the passengers, especially families, with a polaroid camera.
Meal service started one hour after take-off with the special meals. I hadn't ordered any, and the regular meal service reached me almost an hour later.
Here is the menu:
Economy meal service included a salad, a main course, a pudding, and several small packed items: cheasy snacks, cheese, biscuits, butter, bread, chocolate. There was metal cutlery with the meal.
I noticed only after eating my salad that I had forgotten to take a photo of my meal:
I chose Chicken Baltri. It was quite good.
I had a Pepsi and some white wine. It was quite good.
I started another movie after the meal.
We were near Van in Eastern Turkey when I finished the second movie. Remaining time was around 2 hours and 30 minutes here.
A second service started two hours before the end of the flight. There was a choice of ice cream or popcorn. I had some popcorn. Drinks were also available: I had some Pepsi and tea.
The flight map a very short time before landing:
We landed in Dubai at 20.33 and were at the gate at 20.40 for a scheduled arrival time of 20.30.
The tail camera view after arrival:
With hundreds of people on the plane and my seat being in the rear it took a another 10 minutes before I could leave my seat. Passport control was reasonably quick and I was outside of the terminal 35 minutes after arrival.
