December 07 Roster

My roster for December:

30NOV DUBAI - BIRMINGHAM
01DEC BIRMINGHAM - DUBAI (ARR 02DEC)
07DEC DUBAI - HOUSTON
10DEC HOUSTON - DUBAI (ARR 11DEC)
17DEC DUBAI - TORONTO
19DEC TORONTO - DUBAI (ARR 20DEC)
25DEC DUBAI - MANCHESTER (Flying home on Christmas Day again!)
26DEC MANCHESTER - DUBAI (ARR 27DEC)
30DEC DUBAI - MUNICH
31DEC MUNICH - DUBAI (ARR 01JAN)

Recurrent Training

Once a year the Civil Aviation Authority requires that Emirates test our knowledge and refresh it. The day starts by completing some diagrams of aircraft showing where the safety equipment can be found on board. After that we refresh our First Aid, Security and Evacuation training. Here are a few photos from our First Aid sessions:
Our bad version of signs and symptoms of fits.
Treatment charts.
The pyramid of Hyperglycaemia and Hypoglycaemia.
The CPR dummies that we practice on.

The new training college has some amazing views over Dubai.
The new Garhoud bridge being built.
Downtown Deira.

You can see the Burj (the world's tallest building) next to the pyramid shaped building.

Paris, You've Changed My Mind

I was dreading my second visit (first with Emirates) to the capital of France as I'm not a fan of most things French and I'd had a bad experience the first time I went with my brother. However I must say that this trip changed my view. The passengers were nice, the parts of the city we visited were clean and there was a romantic feel to the place. It also helped that I had a fantastic crew with me. We were all tired after the long flight to Paris but we still decided that being so close we had to go into the city. The architecture is quite amazing on some of the buildings and the Champs-Élysées is beautiful when all the shops are lit up at night. I'm glad I've now seen another side to this city.
An Air France Concorde on display at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport.
The Arc de Triomphe.
Les Invalides. Napoleon is buried here.

Having hot chocolate at Les Invalides. L-R First Officer Johannes (South Africa), Captain Werner (Germany), Roxana (Romania), Dahae (South Korea), Me.
Me holding up the Eiffel Tower.
The Seine river runs through the middle of the city.

The Eiffel Tower at night.

2 Days In The Seychelles

I've wanted to go for ages and this month I finally got one on my roster, 48 whole hours in the Seychelles! The flight over was really easy. It's mainly European passengers and my german skills came in quite handy with helping some of them to complete their landing cards. Once we arrived at the hotel it was straight down to the beach for some sunbathing time. The water in the Seychelles is so clear that you can see all the way to the seabed. The next day it was time for a boat trip. We went snorkelling in one of the bays and then we had an hour to ourselves on a private beach with it's own fresh water lagoon. The trip was great but if I had to choose between the Seychelles and the Maldives I would choose the Maldives every time. All I've got to do now is see Mauritius!
Seychelles Airport.
The island had huge mountains all covered in trees.
The crew bus that drove us to and from the airport. They put our cases on the roof!
The hotel swimming pool.

The beach out the front of the hotel.
Silvia (Egypt) and myself on the front of the speedboat that we took the daytrip on.
Snorkelling in the bay.
The fish kept biting as they thought we were food!

The private beach. The lagoon was just behind the big rock.