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
Getting to Socotra is not simple. There are only two government charters a week from Abu Dhabi, operated by Air Arabia. These flights are not shown on the airline's website neither on Abu Dhabi Airport's website nor on Flightradar. You can't just book these flights; you have to get a government permit through a local tour operator. There's no public price for these flights but the cost is $930 for a two-hour return flight.
The Yemeni travel agent told me to go to Terminal 1 in Abu Dhabi, a terminal that has not been in use for years. Fortunately the taxi driver insisted on dropping me off at Terminal A where departure was from.
There's a check-in area for this flight separate from all other Air Arabia flights. They first checked on a print out paper if I was on the passenger lists, then I could check in. Obviously it's not possible to pre-select a seat on-line. I nevertheless asked for an extra legroom seat which I got.
Abu Dhabi Airport is nice and modern.
I was through passport control and security in a few minutes. I bought a chimney cake at the airport's Christmas market under a Christmas tree and had a Starbucks capuccino as breakfast.
Boarding was shown to start at 08.00 but didn't start until 08.30.
There were about 130 passengers on board. Some of the older Yemeni passengers, probably not very familiar with flying, refused first to sit in their assigned seats.
The two seats next to mine remained empty.
The extra legroom in the emergency exit row felt slightly smaller than on some other airlines but the seat was still very comfortable.
Push-back was at 09.09 for a scheduled departure time of 09.00. We took off at 09.25 from runway 31R.
View of Yass Island and the racecourse right after take-off where the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Fornula 1 race was held two days earlier.
There's an onboard magazine:
Air Arabia's route map:
On-line entertainment called Sky Time is available on your device.
It also shows flight information - note that destination and expected time of arrival are not shown on flights to Socotra.
A total of 87 movies are available.
There are also 43 TV Shows.
And there are also videoclips from 14 artists plus 5 Audio channels.
The view from my window:
Air Arabia normally offers a buy-on-board menu including hot meals:
But a hot meal with some salad and a cake, and also water, were included on this flight.
I had chicken rice as a main course. It was good.
The coast of Socotra a short time before landing:
We landed on Socotra at 10.32 for a scheduled arrival time of 10.20.
Socotra Airport:
The island of Socotra is part of Yemen, but there are some major differences. Mainland Yemen is in the Middle East, while the island of Socotra, 380 km away, is geographically part of Africa. Socotra is under the de facto control of Abu Dhabi, and, unlike in some parts of mainland Yemen, there's no civil war, and the island is in fact very safe. Soqotris are a different people and they have their own language. They are very friendly.
The sea around Socotra has beautiful, clear, warm water. The coast is sunny and arid, but there are quite high mountains and highlands in the interior that are much greener. Highlights for visitors include pristine beaches, going out to the sea with local fishermen, the unique Socotran culture, beautiful views in the mountains and the famous dragon blood trees.
However, not many tourists come to Socotra. The main reasons are that most potential visitors don't know that Socotra is safe; there are no on-line bookable scheduled flights, only government charters that are prohibitively expensive; and only very basic guesthouses and restaurants are available. If stability remains, more and cheaper flights will be available and luxury hotels open I bet that Socotra will become one of the trendiest destinations.
Arher Beach in Eastern Socotra
Egyptian vulture
Qalansiyah beach
A beautiful, unspoiled beach near Qalansiyah
A typical neighbourhood in Qalansiyah
Dragon Blood Trees
Beautiful mountain view
Socotra fish market
An oasis in Socotra
The mountains of Socotra seen from the harbour pier
A natural pool in the mountains
A local shop
Thank you for reading my flight report and please feel free to comment.
Hi Bldavid, thanks for sharing this amazing amazing amazing flight report! I had heard the stories about how challenging it is to book the flight, and how they often will sell out months in advance.
The ocean views upon landing are absolutely stunning, and thank you for such a cool tourism bonus! I’ve always wanted to go, and now I get to see it through here!
Hi jettoajet, thank you for your comment. The flights were actually not very full but it depends a lot on the season. You should go to Socotra before it gets touristy.
That’s so odd, my contact just informed me that it was sold out until February so dunno what is going on ha.
Would love go to Socotra, but as you mention “touristy”, it’s already relatively overran with “influencers”. Looking to go to Aden next month so we’ll see, but your picture of the tree has me wanting to go to Soctora!
Once again, thanks for the FR
This is an absolutely fascinating trip report into a completely isolated and unspoilt part of the world, and no wonder hardly anyone has heard of it. I was half-expecting to see a Yemenia aircraft, but there is very little Yemeni about this island — it’s a paradise unto itself!
Air Arabia is a great LCC as far as onboard product goes, with streaming IFE and hot meals. You can’t go wrong with LCCs from the Middle East, though these can also fly all the way to Phuket, and then it won’t be so comfortable!
Hi Proximanova and thank you for your comment. Yemenia has a few flights between Socotra and Aden and maybe Seiyun but these are also difficult to book. Air Arabia offers good planes and a reliable on-board service - it's usually a good choice to fly with them.
Hi David and thanks for sharing this experience to an extraordinary destination
I dream of visiting Socotra but I thought it was totally closed.
Was your trip made possible by a special request for your work, or simply for tourism, in which case it was accessible to other people coming to Abu Dhabi?
which is a good point
I hope this part of the world will open up, so many of them are closing now.
Hello and thank you for your comment. Anybody can go to Socotra for tourism. You can only book through one of 15 or so local tour operators and your package will include the flights from/to Abu Dhabi. Just don't have high expectations for your accommodation. And yes, you should go there, it's a very interesting place.
So yet possible to go to Socotra but not easily.
Cool bonus with the pictures from there.