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 finished my tour in Asmara. There are no direct flights between Eritrea and Europe and there are only three options with connecting flights: Egyptair, Turkish Airlines and FlyDubai / Emirates. Egyptair is usually the cheapest but threre was no flight on the day I was travelling. I booked Turkish, the second cheapest option, but my flight was cancelled. I had only one option left: FlyDubai and Emirates. This was the most expensive but also the best option, even though it included a short red-eye flight from Asmara to Dubai.
I arrived to Asmara Airport two hours before departure. I was the last to check in. The airport is not the most professionally organised in the world but I was through check-in, three document checks and two security controls in a few minutes. There's no lounge at Asmara Airport, but I only had to wait a short time with the other passengers.
Departure from Asmara was at 23.15 for a scheduled arrival to Dubai at 03.55. This FlyDubai plane had the older configuration with 12 lie-flat seats in business class.

I had a quick meal then went to sleep. I slept for about two hours and woke up with a view of Abu Dhabi:

We landed in Dubai on time. We were bussed to Terminal 2, the home of FlyDubai, then, with other connecting passengers, we proceeded to a waiting room.


The bus ride to Terminal 3 took 20 minutes, and it was was literally as cold as in a meat storage facility - I estimated the temperature on the bus to be between 0 and 5 degrees. It was about 04.15 in the morning.
I had about four hours before my flight to Frankfurt. I could have gone to Emirates' business class lounge but I decided to pay a supplement of AED 590 and check out the first class lounge.

It was still very early morning and I was one of the first passengers there. First I went to have breakfast.
You can order à la carte breakfast:

You can also order hot meals, even at 4am:

Or you can eat from the buffet.




I had some tea, rosé champagne, batik salmon and later some eggs benedict.


Champagne is of course available:

There's also a small shop for high-end wines to take home.

I didn't sleep much on my previous flight, so I was looking for a place to sleep. There's a quiet room with six beds separated by curtains but all of them were taken. These photos were taken a few hours later.


I slept for a short time in one of the seating areas, then I went to have a shower. The showers are clean and comfortable.



I had a capuccino after my shower.

I still had some time. Some of the seating areas:



The first class lounge is one floor above the general airside part of the terminal.

The view of the apron from the lounge.

Spa services are available for an additional fee.

There's a game room for children.

It was time to go to the gate. There are 28 departures in 45 minutes between 08.10 and 08.55.

Boarding was from gate B4. There were a lot of passengers waiting to board. Business class passengers boarded after those in economy class, but as the plane was at a remote parking position, we were bussed in a separate business class bus with comfortable seating. The bus ride took 18 minutes as we were literally driving kilometers around the apron.

Our plane when we finally got there: a B777, registration number A6-EPR, built 8 years ago.

Boarding was by stairs.

The plane has the old business class in a 2+3+2 configuration. This is definitely not the most modern product in the air. Legroom is excellent, but the seat is a bit narrow and doesn't have as much storage space as seats in the newer configuration. The worst seats are definitely the middle seats; the better ones are, depending on your preferences, the two window seats or the four aisle seats.
The two seats in the front row on the right side:

I originally had seat 1K:

A pillow, a blanket and headphones were waiting on the seat.
A welcome drink was offered quickly: Veuve Cliquot champagne, Bloody Mary or orange juice.

A passenger asked me to switch seats so I moved to 1A.
Legroom is, as mentioned above, excellent.
The screens look old and do not offer any privacy.

The Australian captain welcomed the passengers and introduced some of the cabin crew including their country of origin. He announced an expected flight time of 6 hours of 20 minutes.
Push-back was at 09.16 for a scheduled departure time of 08.40.
A hot towel was offered during taxi.
Runway ahead.

We took off at 09.40, a full hour after scheduled departure time, from runway 30R.
Nice views of Dubai after take-off.


Seat 1A has three windows

The headphones are quite good.


Breakfast was served shortly after take-off. Here’s the breakfast menu:

And here's my breakfast. It was good. I appreciated that breakfast was not an omelette but something different.

I went to sleep after breakfast. I got a mattress, a pillow and a blanket but the bed wasn't a full flat. Nevertheless I was tired so I managed to sleep for about 2.5 hours, until I was waken up for lunch.

There were three options for the appetiser:
Root vegetable soup
Traditional Arabic mezze
Lobster tail served with Sevruga caviar and celeriac purée
I had the lobster tail. It was excellent.

The three options for the main course:
Pan-fried beef tenderloin
Seared venison
Prawn machbous
I had the prawn. It was good.

And the three options for desserts:
Chocolate gingerbread cake
Raspberries tonka mousee cake
Seasonal fresh fruit
I had the raspberry cake. It was very good.

A cheese board was also available but I didn't have it.
I watched two movies after lunch. For a detailed description of the in-flight entertainment system please see my flight report from London Gatwick to Dubai.
A glimpse outside: the Danube north of Budapest.

I got some chocolates and ordered an Espresso Martini a bit later on.



The last hour of the flight was uneventful. I was watching a movie.
We landed in Frankfurt at 13.00 and were at the gate at 13.12 for a scheduled arrival time of 12.45.