Words of the week - Flying

Hello from Australia.

Having spent 11 years living in South Africa and Dubai we're more than used to flying. Ether 12 hours direct from SA or 8 hrs to Dubai and 7 hours onto the UK. 

Child 3 moved out to Australia in 2017 and this is my 4th trip to visit him (3rd for Peter)

2019 My first trip was from Dubai and I broke the journey up with a stop over in Singapore for 2 hours. I got off the plane, stretched my legs, got a Starbucks, then boarded again with mostly the same passengers, back into the same seat onto Sydney. It was 2 x 7 hour flights. I flew back direct from Melbourne.

We used to joke that a 7 hour flight was short haul for us travelling between Dubai and the UK.

Covid stopped us visiting for 3 years, but I still made flights to and from the UK to Dubai

2022 My 2nd trip was 7 hours to Dubai. Peter came with me and we were now living in the UK. The usual stretch legs, Starbucks and then 14 hours onto Sydney. We had a couple of internal flights to travel to The Gold Coast and Sydney of 2-3 hours each. I flew home from Sydney and Peter returned 2 weeks later and spent a few nights in Dubai on his way back.

2023 Was a flight via Kuala Lumper which was 10 hours, 3 over stop over and yes, stretched legs and coffee, then 8 hours onto Sydney. We had more internal flights up to Cairns and Brisbane and flew home from Sydney via Kuala Lumpur Lumper where we stayed for 4 nights.

2025 We're back in Sydney, via 2 hours in Dubai and we've got 4 nights in Dubai on our way home. Another 7 hour and 14 hour flight. 

Emirates is our preferred airline, but often due to only being able to travel in the school holidays we've opted for other airlines as the price can differ between £1000-£2000 return for the two of us. We were silver members for many years with the airline and benefitted from using the lounge and early boarding, which we do miss being able to take advantage of.

We picked up the AirBus A380 in Dubai

There is so much more room in economy than other planes, so no need for any upgrades. We booked Premium economy with Virgin with our 11 hour flight to Vegas over Christmas and we really needed it. Emirates haven't compromised with economy. Our only issue with booking with Emirates to Dubai or Australia is making sure the code share isn't a Qantas plane, as it's a completely different flying experience.

I opted to have the gluten option on the flights. Usually I just don't eat the bread roll, crackers and cake, usually bringing my own. But I noticed this was a really heavy carb based meal flight. I actually wasn't impressed with any of my meals. They get served earlier than the rest of the cabin do, which also meant I had the tray for twice as long. I also didn't get to see what was I was going to have in advance and was served fish which I don't mind but it really doesn't reheat that well and was very rubbery.

The cakes and bread were really heavy with exceptionally long use by dates. It was also very fatty and sugary)

In theory the gluten free range looked promising

The reality not so good. I couldn't eat this.

I'll be popping some crackers, a cake and bread roll in my hand luggage for the return flight and just having a normal meal (chicken or beef).

Flying during Lockdown and Covid

I've made 3 flights during covid, 2 of them during lockdown, in and out of Heathrow and out of Birmingham and each one has been different.

The first flight was with BA on the 24th March, the 2nd day of Lockdown 1, into Heathrow Terminal 5. The original flight was cancelled and I transferred onto the next available flight which turned out to be the last one out of Dubai. On arrival my friend was there to collect me as I couldn't get across the country at that time of the evening. It was a ghost town, I've never such empty skies.

6pm at Terminal 5 Heathrow

Leaving Dubai Terminal 1 on one of the last flights before Dubai closed its borders later that day, 2 days after Emirates suspended all their flights. Whilst social distancing was in place at the airport, the flight was full and only a handful of people wore masks and normal food service took place.

In late July, my husband received permission to leave Dubai for the UK, his flight was due into Heathrow T3, he flew with Emirates. I failed to check the Terminal and arrived to discover it completely empty, it was very weird to see. I drove round to T2 where a one way system was in place, face masks were now compulsory, I collected Peter and we drove home to isolate together for 2 weeks.

Car park at Heathrow T2 around 2pm

An empty and closed Terminal 3

By the time Peter left 3 weeks later and I followed on 4 days after that we now had to have PCR tests 4 days prior to flying in and out of Dubai. Normal food and drink service took place as normal during the flight. Toilets were open and you were encouraged not to queue or stand in the communal areas and not to change your seats during the flight. 

I was hopeful of a social distanced flight, but sadly the seats filled and on both legs, despite requesting a row to myself, there was someone seated in the aisle seat. My anxiety built and I had a panic attack both times. The crew did support me but only after the panic kicked in, there were plenty of empty rows so I had no idea why they thought it was ok to put people in the same row.

Inside Departures at Heathrow T2

Covid testing centre in Dubai.

Terminal 3 Check in, Dubai.

Business Lounge Terminal 3 Dubai

Boarding passes, seat reservations, check in has varied with airlines and airports. Unless you are a passenger there is no access into departures in either Heathrow or Dubai.

Sadly baggage claim back at Heathrow was a nightmare, no social distancing and most people off the flight saying they weren't going to bother isolating and kids were going straight back to school and parents to work.

I took another flight last week with Air Lingus, a short hop over the Irish Sea flying from Birmingham International, the airport I usually fly in and out of 6+ times per year, I know that airport very well, it's 2nd nature to me to use. I arrived early due to using public transport and sat outside reading a book with a take out coffee from the Spar shop vending machine. I then sat in a marked area in the check in area until the desk opened and discovered Departures was closed, I assume whilst the previous flight departed. The whole of departures was in the dark, only Boots the chemist open. The departure board usually shows 2 pages per day of flights, at the moment it displays flights for the next 4 days.

Departure Lounge Birmingham Airport.

Land side Arrivals.

Empty outside Birmingham Airport.

Display board showing flights from Birmingham International for the next 4 days, usually 2 pages just covers the one day of flights.

I'll be returning from Northern Ireland soon and flying back out of Birmingham with Emirates to Dubai until February. I'm sure there will be many changes. At the moment, I can take a PCR test on arrival in Dubai and isolate until I wait for the results which will make leaving the UK easier and the UAE is no longer on the list of places to isolate after returning to the UK.

My flight from Heathrow to Dubai with Emirates during Covid

Travel for Peter and I is a simple and easy process. We decide when we want to fly, where and when and book the flight. 

For Peter most of his travel is for work, he gets a taxi to the airport, a taxi on arrival and off to his hotel/meeting. When he arrives in the UK for a visit to family and friends, I've usually travelled ahead of him and I will collect him and return him to the airport.

When I travel I'm visiting family and friends. On arrival in the UK I collect car hire or I'll use public transport to reach our home, just hiring a car for a week or two usually when Peter is in the country. When I travel to visit other family and friends outside the UK, they will pick me up and either lend me their car or drive me around.

Travel during covid has been a completely different experience for us both.

I actually left Dubai on March 24th, I was due to fly at 10am with British Airways, but on the 20th my flight was cancelled, I rebooked for the same day but at 2pm and on arrival at T1 in Dubai I discovered this was actually the last flight out and as mentioned above, the borders closed behind me. Emirates had stopped flying on the 22nd. 

It was a full flight and apart from the social distancing in the airport, there was no noticeable difference to how the flight went. I did have to isolate for 2 weeks on arrival in the UK but there were no forms to fill in or questions asked on my arrival.

My return flight earlier this week was very different. I flew with Emirates. I had a mass of paperwork to complete before I checked in. Health declarations, a negative covid test, permission from the UAE government to return to Dubai as a resident and on arrival had to download a covid tracer app and present another health declaration. I was required to wear a mask from entering the terminal in Heathrow, until getting in Peter's car in Dubai.

My actual flight with Emirates was very different, I've spent 5 months social distancing and only going out for essential shopping. I've also been enjoying social distanced visits with family and friends in the garden and when I've had to go out more often or have had people in my house, I've felt very uncomfortable and completely out of my comfort zone. My anxiety has reached levels where I've just wanted to hide away and tell people to go home and I've walked out of environments such as coffee shops and supermarkets when I've felt unsafe.

All the way from my arrival at an empty T2, where I dropped my car through to the departure gate, I was encouraged to keep a two meter distance from everyone, with areas clearly sign posted.

An empty Terminal, restaurants, bars and most shops closed.

Social distanced seating both inside and outside the terminal

Drop off almost deserted 

The same with boarding the plane

I fly regularly, I have silver status with Emirates, I get to board first in economy. Then 2 people sat behind me, 1 person in front of me and then a man sat in the aisle seat and all of a sudden after 2 months of social distancing, I was surrounded. I felt claustrophobic, I struggled to breathe, I just wanted to get off the plane and walk into open space. I knew I'd be unable to just get up and walk around during the flight as we were requested not to even queue for toilets. We weren't allowed to move seats.

I phoned Peter, he calmed me down and told me to explain how I felt to the cabin crew, by the time I rang the bell, tears were streaming down my face and I just wanted to get off the plane.

The cabin crew were amazing, I can't thank Jaime enough, she took me to an open space and found an empty row at the front of the plane with more space in front of me, checking I was OK during the flight. There was still someone sitting behind me, but I felt less hemmed in and more relaxed and the flight for me, which then proceeded as normal.

The cabin crew were wearing plastic aprons and gloves, we were given a Travel hygiene Kit, which I used during the flight. No menus were given out and the drinks service was limited to wine and beer only with the usual soft drinks and tea/coffee served as normal.

As we were leaving the plane, the Captain requested we maintained a 2 meter distance when disembarking, which I thought was the most ridiculous thing I'd heard in 5 months after spending 7 hours in one of the most claustrophobic environments I'd ever been in.

How anyone can get on a plane to go on a holiday if beyond me, it's not essential travel. I had to return to Dubai to renew my visa and start the process of leaving Dubai by selling my car and closing bank accounts and more importantly to spend time with my husband.

The UK Foreign Office are still advising against all but essential travel. To return to the UK in 3 weeks time I have to have another negative covid test certificate and complete a health declaration and isolate for 2 weeks. However this could all change between now and then so I'm keeping a close eye on the airline and both the UK and UAE government websites.

At least I will be better prepared for my flight home knowing how the flight will operate and therefore I'm not expecting the to have the same high levels of anxiety. 

Heathrow Airport July 2020 - My Sunday Photo

I collected my husband from Heathrow Airport on July 23rd. We haven't seen each other since March 24th.

I arrived at Terminal 3, parked up and made my way towards Arrivals.

It was closed. Terminal 3 at Heathrow Airport was closed. I thought it looked a bit emptier than I'd expected, but closed?

Emirates always fly in and out of T3, Hubbies flight ticket said T3, my ticket for August 18th says T3, my car parking is booked with T3. A quick google revealed I needed to be at T2. I had to pay £4.50 to get out the car park, then pay another £4.50 to go in and out of T2 car park.

I had a mini melt down getting out the lift as people just filed in and not holding back, I yelled at them to social distance. There's a clear one way system set up for the building and masks have to be worn from the car park onwards. Both these rules were broken by a few, but no one challenged them.

I did wonder if Peter would be able to recognise me whilst wearing a mask.

When I got in the car I had to remind him he could take his mask off, he's so used to wearing one all the time in Dubai when driving with someone else in the car.

We're now isolating together for 2 weeks, then a week of travelling around to see the family (social distanced) then I'm out to Dubai for 3 weeks to renew my visa, sell my car and close my bank accounts.

My flight to the UK during lockdown Covid-19

In the lead up to lockdown we had visitors in Dubai. My flight with BA was scheduled for 10am on March 24th. Our last lot of visitors were leaving on the 20th so we were keeping a close eye on the flight schedules. Theirs went on time on the Friday morning however, at the same time, mine was cancelled. I rebooked immediately onto the next available flight which was 2pm on the same day. On the Sunday night, Emirates cancelled all flights in and out of Dubai and BA were further reducing their services eventually down to just one a day. In the end I was actually on the last BA flight out of Dubai.

I needed to return to the UK, we'd just taken possession of our family home back from tenants in the December, I'd changed the locks and had some basic work carried out, the cat and dog had flown over on February the 1st and I'd returned to Dubai on March 3rd as we had 2 lots of visitors scheduled to arrive. My Mother in Law was house and pet sitting for the 3 weeks I was away and our eldest child is in a care home in the UK and we knew there was a possibility that I may need to be there to care for her, should the situation worsen.

Saying goodbye to Peter not knowing when we'd next see one another was hard. I packed one suitcase with essentials, being fortunate enough to already have winter clothing, toiletries etc in the UK and I'd done a large shop stocking up with loo roll, cleaning products and pet food back in February as I knew I wouldn't have a car when I got back to the UK. I also did 2 food online shops, 1 for me and 1 for my mum to ensure we had enough supplies, which thankfully were done just before the UK started panic buying.

On arrival at Terminal 3 in Dubai, social distancing was in place, the floor marked and staff now all wearing gloves and face masks, having made regular visits to the airport over the past 2 weeks, in both departures and arrivals, we noticed quite a stark change and the silence was deafening. The shops had only started the social distancing the week before, but pubs, bars and tourist attractions had shut down on March 16th and the malls were almost empty of shoppers.

Arrivals hall Dubai Terminal 1, never have I seen it so quiet.

After check in and saying our goodbyes I went through the departure gates where I was asked if I was a resident or a tourist. On replying I was a resident, I was asked to sign a mandatory form stating I agreed to a 2 weeks stay in a medical facility upon my return to Dubai. At this point I realised I wouldn't be coming back any time soon and after receiving an exit stamp in my passport I filed through to departures.

The terminal was almost empty and it was easy to social distance. I'd receive an email in the morning to tell me that it was unlikely any food and drink would be available on the 7 hours flight to Heathrow, so I stocked up in the duty free.

I was surprised that the flight was full and we were all sitting next to one another as usual, flight stewards weren't wearing masks or gloves, but if I'm honest that pleased me as gloves and masks don't stop the spread like people think they do and I'd already observed people weren't changing the gloves as often as they should be washing their hands.

A full food service was provided, I carried anti bacterial wipes and cleaned my screen, seat belt and tray table, despite being informed the plane had already been fully sanitised. I settled back to the flight.

On arrival in Heathrow, I expected long queues for passport control, but to my surprise the electronic gates were open and we were being directed straight through. No questions about where we'd travelled from, no instructions to self quarantine, only a woman meekly asking if people would like a leaflet.

Again it was deathly silent and I was grateful to get outside, to empty skies where my friend had kindly offered to collect me and house me for the night before I made my journey across the UK to reach Malvern and home.

Heathrow T5 7pm

Travelling across the UK on the 26th March was eerily quiet, trains were cancelled, rescheduled and rerouted several times during my journey. The staff at all the stations couldn't have been more helpful, everywhere was closed, no one was out unless they were making essential travel and most like me were trying to get to or from the airport or just home within the UK. 

Quite literally one person per carriage, regular announcements asking us to social distance.

 Birmingham New Street around 1pm

There were a couple of incidents on route where passengers were shouting at rail and station staff about changing trains and few announcements, but they were dealt with professionally by the staff.

I arrived home in Malvern after almost 4 hours, with a short walk via the shop to collect milk and I self isolated for 14 days. My Mother in Law had left and returned to her home in Bristol as I was making my way back on the train.

As much as I'd love to see my husband and we can now travel as residents and citizens of the UK and the UAE, we have no desire to take a non essential trip with quarantine either side, in total of 4 weeks, for a 2 week visit.

One daily Positive - Week 11. Nicholas Parsons and home to Dubai

Both a sad start and end to this UK trip, arriving for my SIL's funeral and leaving 2 days after the death of my Uncle. This happened in 2016 also, when I came over for my father's youngest brothers funeral and my mother's eldest brother died the day I left. I finished the week back home in Dubai. Fell back into local time straight away, tired and had no milk, the garden had survived, one house plant was a bit worse for wear and it felt strange not being met by the cat and dog.

70 Sunday Our Easy Jet flight from Belfast was delayed by an hour, said our goodbyes to child 4 and 4a, who we'll see again in Dubai at the end of the month. Collected car hire and then the teen from Stratford and dropped him off at my mum's where he's staying till the end of the week. Mother's Day gifts from child 4, 4a and 5.

71 Monday Collected child 1 from Gloucester and hubby suggested we visit Bicester village for a day out, the roads were really misty. I took Mary's (over40andamumtoone) birthday gift with us and called her on route and she joined us for a coffee or two. I must say both Peter and I were impressed with how she handled Stephanie and dodged flying drink bottles.

72 Tuesday Collected MIL from Keynsham and headed off to Street for the day for shopping and lunch. Had the start of a migraine. I know I'm over doing it, but our remaining time in the UK is limited and I lost 4 days to the snow. I took Peter to me local pub to meet Geoff, the landlord, who bought my fathers car. I tend to treat the pub as an extension of my living room as the teen is still living in the flat.

73 Wednesday Woke to the sad news that Uncle Tim died last night. It was something we were expecting and it hit me really hard. Tim was my father's best friend from birth and I can't recall any event over my lifetime of 46 years that he and his wife, Aunty Pat who died in 2012, hadn't been part of. I had a horrendous migraine and really didn't want to go anywhere, but child 2 had his suit fitting appointment for his wedding in June and I was dragged to Gloucester, called in to see ex MIL on our way back and went straight to bed. Peter went to see my sister, mini me and Thing 1, 2 & 3. Managed to get out in the evening to see Nicholas Parsons at the local theatre, it was very good, despite the migraine.

74 Thursday Took mum to visit my cousin, Tim's son, I hadn't seen him during the hospital visits and as I won't be able to attend the funeral, we drove to Aberdare for the day. On the way back we stopped at the crematorium to order my father's memorial plaque. It was a sad time for both mum and I, first time back at the crematorium and we saw where my father's ashes were buried. In the evening Peter and I did a whistle stop tour of saying goodbyes and met friends in the pub for a quiet drink and replied to 2 of the 3 wedding invites we have to look forward to this year.

75 Friday It's not often Peter and I fly together, we joke we're like royalty. We sat together upstairs on the Airbus A380. I require a window seat when I fly so I have something to lean against. Peter was pleased with the extra legroom and storage but I was disappointed as I may as well have been sitting in an aisle seat, I had nothing to lean against and spent most of the flight in pain and tears.

76 Saturday I didn't get much sleep, woke early and fetched milk, caught up with some blogging while Peter slept as it's back to work for him tomorrow, unpacked, collected the cat and dog and had a manicure, pedicure and new gel polish while Peter did some food shopping, a relaxing day and an early night ahead.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - Coventry Cathedral - Mixing the old and the new
Triumphant Tales, Tweens Teens Beyond, Best Boot Forward and PoCoLo linky
What it's like being a woman living in Dubai.