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, as, economy class
Asmara to Dubai, FlyDubai, business class
Dubai to Frankfurt, Emirates, business class
I wanted to get from Djibouti to Asmara in Eritrea. The distance between the two cities is only 619 km.
If there were a direct flight it would take one hour. But there are no direct flights, and since Eritrea no longer allows anymore Ethiopian Airlines to fly there, and there are very few other options, I had to take three flights and fly for four hours: Djibouti to Addis on Ethiopian, Addis to Jeddah on Saudia and Jeddah to Asmara on Flynas.
The Addis to Jeddah route is quite busy with 4 flights on most days, some of them on widebody aircrafts.
I booked this flight on Saudia in economy class as the price difference with business class would have been too big. I tried to upgrade multiple times both on Saudia's website and app using different cards but every time there was an "unexpected error". The reason might have been that I had booked my flight in Amadeus and not directly on the airline's website.
I arrived to Addis the evening before from Djibouti on a full and uncomfortable Ethiopian flight. I stayed airside overnight at the in-terminal hotel.
I had booked to the hotel in advance as passengers arriving without a booking were turned away as it was fully booked. My room was modern, comfortable, up to the standards of a good 4 star hotel room. I paid €99 for my stay.
I had already checked in for my flight on the Saudia app, although I couldn't select my seat or generate my boarding pass. All connecting passengers heading from Addis to Saudi Arabia have to queue in two different long and unmarked lines to have their visas checked and get their boarding pass. The first place to queue was at the Ethiopian Airlines transfer desk, even though I was travelling with Saudia. The second was at Gate A7.
It took me over an hour, approximately from 22.45 to midnight. Not ideal if you only have a few hours to sleep.
I tried to upgrade again when getting my boarding pass. I should had waited for a gate supervisor but it was already 00.10 and I decided that, as I only had a few hours before departure, sleeping was more important. I had a shower and went to sleep at 00.25.
I woke up at 04.25. My bed has never been that close to the boarding gate. I left my room 04.45 and I arrived at the gate at 04.50 when boarding was already on the way.
The terminal was crazy busy at midnight but almost completely deserted so early in the morning.
There are not many departures before 08:20.
Configuration in economy class on this A330-300 was 2-4-2. I had seat 47A. I tried many times not only to upgrade but at least to change my seat but to no avail. However my seat was very comfortable for an economy seat. It had good legroom.
A widebody plane on a two and a half hour flight is not very common, although technically it was an intercontinental flight.
An expected flight time of two hours and five minutes was announced.
A small wet towel was distributed before departure, although the last rows including mine were forgotten :(
Push-back was at 05.43 for a scheduled departure time of 05.50. We took off at 05.55 from runway 07R.
Breakfast was served shortly after take-off: an industrial croissant, a large strawberry yoghurt, sliced apples and a hot omelette. As for drinks, only water, tea, coffee, orange juice and apple juice were available. No soft drinks and of course no alcohol. This was nevertheless a very nice breakfast for such a short flight.
The rest of the flight was uneventful.
We landed in Jeddah at 07.55 and were at the gate at 08.09 for a scheduled arrival time of 08.25.
Saudi Arabia was one of the very few countries that didn't issue tourist visas at all for a very long time. Now it has completely changed: e-visas are very easy to obtain and the country is planning to spend literally billions on developing tourism.
Jeddah has an old town called Al-Balad with many beautiful old houses.
A typical local shop interior in Jeddah's old town.
There's an excellent ethnographic museum. It's called Al-Taybat International City Museum of Science.
One of the highlights of a visit to Jeddah is the fish market.
