Review of Yemenia flight from Aden to Djibouti in Economy

Intro

Sorry for the cover photo: this is a very special flight to me and it felt right. This will also probably be my last full series on this website. I will still post the odd flight every couple of weeks, but I will still be reading everyone else's!

Growing up, I was always told by my father that "moments can change your life". While he might have been talking about the football field, I think this came out today on this flight onboard Yemenia. After flying well over 1000 flights in my lifetime, this is the most memorable one I have ever had.

As a reference point, I flew this flight 2 days after one of the Yemenia planes had been bombed up in Sanaa. Yemeni has 4 A320s stationed in Aden, and had* an A320 & A330 stationed up in Sanaa.

Following a lovely time in Aden, it was finally time to embark on the next adventure. While I had the opportunity to fly Air Djibouti on the outbound, I figured that the audience would like to know what it was like onboard the flag carrier of Yemenia in economy. How was it? Amazing, but not in the ways you would think.

Tourism Bonus at the end!

Routing

How I Booked

In my previous post, I touched on the complicated process of booking a flight to mainland Yemen.

But to summarize: I had to be in Indonesia for dinner the night of the 1st, and with all flights sold out for the next two weeks to everywhere that Yemenia serves (minus Djibouti), the only option I was left with was Djibouti.

Someone in Yemen had to visit the ticketing office and pay with cash for this ticket, as there is no way to book a Yemenia ticket online. One day, that would be a neat addition to this airline, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. 

Aden Airport/Check In

Rushing out of my haircut looking like a Porcupine with half of my hair cut and half of it not cut, my guide's brother switched on one last tune for the short 5-minute drive to Aden airport. Ready for what it was?

Baby you're a fireworkkkkkkk, come on show them whatttt you're worth, make it go…

Screaming at the top of our lungs (see, we are all human and most of us like Katy Perry 🥴), we arrived at the heavily fortified Aden Airport. There was one checkpoint…

Honestly, Aden is quite a pretty little airport once you get passed those walls. There is a beautiful little A320 standing strong outside, and it kind of resembles Yemenia as a whole. Barely any other airline dares to fly in here, and here is this little airline practically saving lives.

The healthcare in Yemen isn't great, so if someone needs emergency surgery, they must fly out on Yemenia (that's what I read online, so do not quote me).

Well, my train of thought was quickly interrupted as we came into another checkpoint.

And sure enough, we had arrived at Aden airport, about 2 hours prior to boarding. For a country in a civil war, it was actually looking quite sharp. 

Giving a huge hug to my guide's brother, it was a sad moment when I went to check in. I realized that I hadn't just visited Yemen, but I had shared laughs so big I began crying (out of joy, relax), and I had built friendships that will probably/hopefully last forever.

Okay, enough emotional stuff. Aden airport is relatively small, but straightforward inside. There is a guard who will check your printed ticket/passport, and then a check-in hall ahead.

It wasn't too busy in the afternoon (most flights leave in the very early hours around 3 am), and with no checked baggage, I had received my boarding pass for a window seat within minutes.

Oh yeah, I had applied for an E-Visa to Djibouti, but it had not come in time. Even if online they say you need a visa, Djibouti IS a Visa-On-Arrival (more on this later) process. 

Immigration took a matter of minutes, and to be honest, I lost count of the number of times I said, "I love Yemen" to more than 4 people in line. Hey, I'm not lying either… 

Lounge

Prior to departure, I had the opportunity to visit the "Rotana VIP Contract Lounge in Aden.

To say it would be good would be the understatement of the year. This might have been the very best 10$ I have ever spent, and the best 5$ I have ever spent to get a private car to the plane. Wow. 

For 10$ I got this private area! 10$! You can't even get a large soda in the US for 10$ at an airport 😅.

There might not be bathrooms (you have to go downstairs but can leave your bags) or showers, but there is free Starlink wifi available for use, as well as gobsmacking views out over the apron. Who needs wifi when you can see a Yemenia plane in front of you (yes, I took this flight the day after a plane was destroyed, and I was a little on edge). 

While the actual hard product of the lounge is decent, what really shone brightly was the service that occurred in this lounge. I have been in some of the very nicest lounges in the world, but this was some of the best service I have ever received.

It also shows Yemeni hospitality as a whole. Even today, people reach out to me on instagram thanking me for visiting their shop in Aden. Beautiful souls.

Approximately 5 minutes after sitting down, a man came over to provide me with a tea (or coffee, not sure), some dates, a fruit basket, and a bottle of water. Without asking…

Then, throughout the next hour and a bit before boarding, they just kept bringing me food. Even if I wasn't eating, they would just bring me a sandwich. Then it was a chocolate cake. Then it was a banana. They just couldn't stop bringing me more and more 😅. It was beautiful. 

Private Transfer To Plane

As if this trip couldn't get any better, it somehow did.

With boarding soon to commence, the manager of the lounge offered me a private ride to the plane in a very nice car for 5$. Yes, 5$. Do you know how much reserve reps charge in LA? Add 3 zeros at the end 😅. I mean, how could I say no to that?

So while everyone else was boarding, a man came to pick up my luggage, place it on the security belt for me, and refused to let me carry it 😅. Blown away is the phrase I am looking for. Wow. 

We bypassed everyone in line and made our way out to this beautiful vehicle. Once again, he refused to let me help him put my luggage in the trunk. From there, he opened the door for me, gave me a bottle of water, and blasted the Air Conditioning (needed dearly in the summertime in Yemen). 

I am still flabbergasted

We arrived at the plane, at which point, one of the two buses had already been offloaded with passengers, so there was a bit of a queue to get onboard. Not that it really mattered much, as I was able to snap some pictures of an aircraft I will most likely never fly again.

Such a beautiful aicraft.

After about a 5-minute wait (keep in mind a lot of people on these flights are families, so it can take quite a while), I stepped onboard to begin my first-ever flight with Yemenia.

The Seat/Cabin

Seats on the Yemenia A320 are laid out in a 2-class configuration. In the front of the cabin are 8 business class seats laid out in a 2-2 configuration. I didn't get a whole lot of time to check them out, but they didn't seem that bad whatsoever. More like old, worn-in recliners. 

Moving on back to where I was sitting, economy 🥴, I believe I saw 24 rows of economy seats laid out in a 3-3 configuration. Look, I am going to keep it 100, this cabin is pretty barebones. You can say "au revoir" to IFE, Wifi, or pretty much anything else. This product was designed to get passengers from point A to point B. 

Don't pick the back row…

While I haven't been able to find the exact pitch online (I mean, Yemenia doesn't even show up on Google Flights), I would estimate the product to be right at about 30 inches. Adequate.

Finally, and most critically, there ARE overhead air vents. Considering this used to be an ex-Silk Air plane, this was something I welcomed with open arms! 

To summarize: you get a seat and overhead air vents. Nothing else. No wifi, no IFE, etc. Then again, you are flying out of a country that is in a civil war. The amount of money Yemenia must spend on insurance is staggering.

The Flight

Alright, all of the heavy lifting out of the way, let's get into why this flight was so spectacular.

Settling into my seat, I thought I was about to luck out and get an open row. However, there were two men in their 20's who happened to be the last onboard, and sat next to me.

As we were delayed a bit, the people next to me started talking to me. They were both from the South of Yemen, and tried their best to speak to me in English. Keep in mind, I am visiting their country, and I don't speak any Arabic, so this is on me. 

So the guy on the right up above is some sort of Snapchat influencer (I think, he was recording everything haha) in Yemen, and he began taking videos of all of us. In one of the videos, I ask, "Is Yemenia a good airline"?

He responded, "50-50", and we just burst out laughing. For the entirety of the flight, 50-50 became the inside joke.

So when the cabin crew came around prior to departure to dsitribute a quick Turkish (very interesting) snack, I asked him, "is this good"?

He replied, "not 50-50, 100%". Once again we burst out laughing 🤣.

About to be on the floor in hysteria, the captain came onto welcome us onboard and inform us of our 35 minute flight to Yemen. With people still standing up, nursery ryhmes in the background on full volume, and gosh knows what else going on, we began moving.

On a flight in the US, I would have been concerned, but welcome to Yemen Habibi 🇾🇪.

Due to the sheer number of departures, we had to wait about 40 minutes for takeoff…

I'm joking, it was a quick backtaxi and we were wheels up at 7:10 pm local time on a fine evening. Jokes aside, after the plane being bombed in the North I was a little nervous, but I also know that Yemenia is a highly respected carrier in terms of safety.

Once airborne, we still could not stop chatting. As a matter of fact, it really did become that LA photo studio I was talking about earlier. We started posting, taking pictures in sunglasses on the plane, while all you could hear in the background was "twinkle twinkle little star" from the passenger behind 😅. Ahh, life, it does not get much better… 

Just mind the cringe please, I know how bad it is 😂

Approximately 10 minutes after we were airborne, the cabin crew came around distributing a choice of juices as well as a bottle of water. This is actually quite smart of Yemenia, as they give a snack on the ground, and then a refreshment in the air.

For a 35-minute flight, much more than you would get in other places in the world… 

Continuing to laugh away, I hadn't even looked outside before I realized we were on final approach into Djibouti. You could have kept me on this flight another 2 hours, and I would have had no idea 😅.

We ended up touching down ahead of schedule in Djibouti at 7:43 local time and pulling in next to this Turkish beast a few minutes later.

No 50-50, we had made it safely to JIB 😅.

Just for the readers, I decided to hang back after deplaning and get all of the cabin shots I wanted. I know I won't be flying Yemenia anytime soon (or will I 😉), so I figured this would be my only chance to get these (pictured above in the seat/cabin section).

Bidding farewell to the kind crew (they were nice, can't report much on an economy flight which was 35 minutes long), and my new friends, I made the short walk back into the Djibouti Airport terminal I know oh so well. 

Immigration

Right, I think I must have lost the plot this evening, as arriving at immigration, I was happy to find 8 lines open. Only issue? No one had a visa, and there was only one person making the visas on arrival.

So I waited

And I waited

And I waited

And I continued to wait

Then I contemplated my life decisions

Until eventually, I was like wtf. Everyone had handed in their passports, and there were 6 immigration officers just chilling there. 6 IMMIGRATION OFFICERS and only one working on the visas on arrival. At one point, another guy decided to help out, but would then proceed to go on his phone after completing one for 5 minutes. EVERY TIME. 

I mean, come on. I love Africa, it is my favorite continent in the world, but it can also do my head in sometimes 😅.

2 hours after landing, I had finally received my visa. Yup, 2 hours. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't a huge deal, but what frustrated me is how much more efficiently this could have been done.

Whatever, tired would be an understatement at this point in time. I hopped in a taxi, paid the 3500 Francs (absurdly expensive), and 12 minutes later, I had made it to my hotel for the night.

And yes, for rankings, the entertainement is the people of Yemen. Fantastic, better than any IFE on a plane… EVER!

Knockoff Marriott

Throughout my 3 days in Aden, I stayed at the knockoff Marriott, which happens to be the second nicest hotel in the city. Honestly, it's much better than I expected, and was very pleasant, and most importantly: very safe. At 50$ per night, and close by to the airport, what more could you want?


So safe that I accidentally left my door open for 6 hours one day with my laptop and camera out in full view. When I came back, nothing was touched. Wow. 

Little Ben+ Around Aden

During my time in Aden, I did get up to some sightseeing activities that were culturally and historically very interesting. Well, on one of the days, we took a whole morning to head around Aden and explore some of what this bustling city used to be like back when the English were in control. 

Perhaps you know of one of the most famous historical pieces from the United Kingdom: Big Ben? Well, did you know that when the English came to Yemen in the 1800's, they decided to build a replica of Big Ben on top of a hill? I am guessing not.

Big Ben is massive, so after driving up to the top of this hill, I was expecting a decently sized "Ben", and found this… 

I am British, so I can say this (to back my credibility 😅), but it is like comparing a scale model airplane to a real airplane at 1:200 scale. Yeah, really… 

Did you know that this was the place that the British tried to monitor and abolish slavery from in the 1800s? They have an island called "slave island" actually.

Another quick note: above is a picture of Aden, and in the bottom left-hand corner, there is a small hotel, which is where Queen Elizabeth stayed when she came to visit in the 1900s. This has since been destroyed through the Civil War, but it's a cool story to hear from the local Yemenis. 

British 'Row'

The next interesting aspect that my guide showed me was a place he liked to call "British Row". Interestingly, back in the day, Yemen didn't used to be 99% Islamic. There were many different religions, including a profound number of Christians (putting this on the record, I am not religious).

Below is the street where British troops and their families used to live. International schools were opened up here, nightclubs would stay open until 3 am, and it from what I hear, it was vastly different to what it was today.

you can see the British influence everywhere.

Since the British have left and the Jewish population left (we are not getting into that on FR), the country has become predominantly Muslim. Heading around town, it was interesting to see many abandoned churches, and many beautiful mosques. Makes sense. 

It's interesting, as during the main hours of prayer, everything is shut and people head into these mosques. So for example, we headed out on a Friday morning (weekend), and there was barely a car on the road, but the mosque parking was overflowing.

Anyways, that was just a quick thought.

But yes, the country was under attack…

Looking at pictures and videos in the news is one thing, but seeing mortar fire and bullet holes up close in almost half of the buildings in Yemen is a whole different perception you gain. Throughout our drive around Aden, we came across many different buildings, ranging from ones that were flat out destroyed and abandoned, to some that had bullet holes with people living in them.

It's tragic and striking at the same time. 

Fishing In Yemen 🇾🇪

As much as I love traveling, there is one thing in my life more than it: fishing. Seriously, ever since I was a kid, my favorite thing in the whole entire world has been fishing. So when I visit countries around the world and have an opportunity to fish, I jump right on it.

But what is even cooler than just fishing is combining travel, fishing, and experiencing what life is like on a daily basis for a lot of people in Yemen. A lot of what people eat in Yemen is fish, and hence, there are fishing captains that go out for days at a time just to try and bring back some fish to sell (more on that later).

The day prior, my guide had taken me to the small offshoot of Aden: Little Aden. After waltzing around the market and taking some pictures with some Yemenis, I headed off to the beach to go for a swim.

It was cool to see, kids were splashing around in the water, people attempting to sell me some knock-off Pepsis, but out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a few boats that were anchored down. I asked my guide, "Is there any way I can go out on one for a bit just to relax on the water" (at this point, fishing wasn't on my mind).

Sure enough, the guide had arranged a 30 minute tour out into the ocean around some rock formations with a guy named Mohamed. Not a motorboat featuring a bathroom, a skiff with seats that had probably been made back when the British were here. 

Functional lifejackets? Forget those. Captain chewing Khat? You betcha.

Anyways, about 15 minutes into the boat ride, I looked over the side of the boat and saw some Bonitos jumping no more than 50 meters offshore. My fishing fight-or-flight response engaged, so I began scanning the horizon. Boom, skipjacks another 100 meters away.

And after landing a grander black marlin in Africa near a pile of skipjacks, my eyes lit up…

With no rod in hand, my excitement quickly turned into dismay. Even the captain looked at me with those bright eyes as if he said to me, "I wish I had my handline right now". We might speak different languages, but fishermen are fishermen, and people are people. 

Most of the few tourists who visit Yemen might head to Seiyun or possibly see Little Ben in Aden, so when I asked my guide the next morning, "I want to go fishing today", he looked at me as if a cheetah had just appeared in the hotel. Little did I know that my guide was deathly afraid of the ocean… 😅

But if there is one thing you should know about me is that when I put my mind to something, it is going to get done. My guide called his brother, who likes fishing, and he called the boat driver, and within a minute we had arranged a 3-hour trip for 40$. Not bad.

We stocked up on some gear at the local fishing shop and began the drive back to Little Aden…

With more Justin Bieber playing at max volume, it wasn't long until we arrived at the beach ready to get underway. The captain was waiting for us, I rigged up a rapala, and we began trolling out to those cargo ships… Literal baitballs, just waiting to be taken advantage of.

20 minutes in… BOOOM we had a hit. Garfish, which sadly got off on the leader.

Back to it, I guess. Slowly, slowly, slowly trolling. BOOM. FISH ON! I set the drag, set the hook, and a nice 8 lb King Mackerel was at the boat in no time. We kept dancing around the cargo ships for a while and had a few more strikes, managing to boat another King Mackerel and a Bonito.

Honestly though, with the right tackle and venturing out a little further, all the signs pointed to the sailies being around… 

With a torn-up deep-diving knock-off Halco, and a smile on my face, I quickly called my guide (because I was with his brother) and said, "let's feast". My guide told us that he was so down, and that there is a perfect local spot right by the fish market where they cook it in spices. PERFECT is the word.

Finagling through the checkpoints, we made it to the dropped pin that my guide sent, where we met up with him and another American who had just arrived on tourism. We placed our order with the kitchen, dropped off the fish, and sat down in this local restaurant. 

If you had told me three years ago that I would be sitting at a local restaurant with an American guy and two Yemenis in Yemen, about to eat a fish I had just caught on some knockoff tackle from Aden, I would never have believed you. But that is what happened.

We chatted and we ate. No one on their phones, no alcohol, just laughs about sea-sickness and about how we tried to ask the militiary for his gun. It is these small moments that bring humanity back into the picture. If we can sit at a table and laugh with someone from Yemen as Americans, you can talk to that person in your class. We are all so different, but so similar.

After dinner, my guide showed me to the fish market. I'm not gonna talk about it because it makes me sad that I didn't have my gear. Look at the size of that Sailfish on the left. My goodness gracious.

TDLR: There are a lot of fish in the channel between Yemen and Somalia. A lot.

What a beautiful day, topped off my playing some footi.

Lol (If this isn't allowed, sorry, I just thought it was quite cool)

After seeing most of Aden in the previous three days, my guide asked me, "Do you want a picture with a gun". Naturally, as an idotic adrenaline seeker, of course I said yes. And while guns are now illegal to own in Aden without a permit, my guide said that the military will often just hand out their gun for a picture.

Driving through many checkpoints and getting denied while politely asking, we were about to give up until we saw a technical truck on the side of the road with 4 members of the military chewing Khat.

We made our way over there, expecting to be told no, but were astonished when the guide said, "he said yes". Perfect!

Parking the car, the military man said to me "Where are you from". I responded with, "America, my friend". He said, "I love America", as he proceeded to drape his AK across my shoulder. Huh, when in Rome, or more like Yemen. Yala Habibi 😅.  

And then he just gave me his pistol. Huh?? Can I just say, the level of trust he must have had in me to give me his AK and sidearm to an American in Yemen is next level, and it shows the generosity of the people here.

Just as I gave him back his very light AK (I hadn't held one in a while), he said, "Do you want to take a picture on the machine gun in the truck? It is not allowed, so be quick". Ummmm, do I want to take a picture pretending to shoot a machine gun off the back of a technical in Yemen? Do I want to? Do I? YEAHHHH.

I mean, how are you supposed to say no to that? I'm not sure why, but all of the Yemenis seems to love the picture on my Instagram/Tiktok 😅

At the end of it, I was a little confused. He just gave me a fistbump and said thank you. No ulterior motive, no nothing. 

Flag Shopping+Haircut

Before heading to the airport, on my last and final day in Yemen (yes, we have already finished this series, sadly), I was destined to do two things before leaving:

Getting a haircut. My hair had been getting extremely long, and with a date the next evening in Indonesia, I figured this would be a perfect time to try out a local Yemeni barber shop.

I wanted a flag. As I spoke about in many different posts, North and South Yemen are currently somewhat divided. The flag of South Yemen is beautiful, and I wanted to bring one back to hang on my wall. 

Stepping inside, you could tell that this wasn't a flag shop; this was a proper "I am gearing up to enter combat shop". Guns were waving everywhere, full-face balacalvas were being sold (not allowed to buy without a permit, weirdly), bulletproof vests were being hung, and it was a proper, "wow" moment.

We waited our turn while someone was buying a tactical belt and a grenade, until we finally asked, "Do you have a flag of South Yemen". Within seconds, we had purchased two for 10$. Quite expensive for Yemen, but you can't buy these flags anywhere. 

At this point, it was about 3:45, and my flight was set to depart at 7. My guide's brother (who was showing me around today) told me we might just have enough time to squeeze in a haircut if we go to the place by the airport.

Arriving at about 4:15 pm, there was no wait for a haircut, and I climbed into this chair that had certainly seen better days. Let's leave it there.

The barber cutting my hair was fantastic actually, and at 2$ for a haircut, this is one of the best deals I have ever come across in my life… Until… 

My guide called me and said, "Are you at the airport"?

Um.. no… my flight is at 7…

He said, "Leave now"!

With my hair in the process, and looking like shambles, I quickly paid the barber and we ran back to the car. Yes, to this day, my hair is still a little bit spotty due to having to leave mid-haircut 😅.