Traveling amid a pandemic from Belgrade to Dubai
Here is a report from last Saturday’s flight between Belgrade and Dubai on Flydubai. This route seems to be really popular lately, with relatively easy entry into Dubai requiring only a negative PCR test, no visa requirement and life in Dubai being quite normal with a lot of safety precautions (like mandatory facemasks everywhere – and people actually strictly adhering to it, thermal cameras and temperature checks everywhere, high hygiene levels etc). The Covid crisis also seems to have brought quite a wide variety of passengers on this route. On my flight, there were Turkish (I believe there are still no commercial flights between UAE and Turkey), Russian, Macedonian and Indian passengers, on top of Serbian travellers of course.
Belgrade Airport is undertaking a lot change. Many parts of the airport are closed off. I passenger through the upgraded duty free to enter into an open space (where the former duty free was), which is in the process of being renovated too. The airport was packed with Israeli passengers. On the day I was travelling there were 8 flights to Tel Aviv. The passengers seemed to be in a shopping frenzy, so much so there was an actual line in front of Victoria’s Secrets to enter the store.
Since some gates are currently closed for reconstruction our plane parked at A9, the area of the airport which has not been touched for the best part of 30 years. This gate is extremely small and with a packed flight it was impossible for all passengers to enter the actual gate. Despite this boarding was quite orderly.
Both business and economy class cabins were full. Usually Flydubai has two set of pilots on this flight with one pair deadheading each way, but there was no sign of them, at least in the business cabin where they usually sit. Interestingly, we had a female pilot for our flight.
Before departure menus and a hot towel were distributed, while there was a thick blanket and bottle of water on each seat. Legroom is quite good, and the leather seats are comfortable.
We pushed back on time and there were some nice views both of the airport and city upon departure.
Shortly after departure we were served some packaged snacks (mixed nuts, chips) and drinks. Then the meal was served and more drinks were offered.
The rest of the flight went by as usual. Crew was nice, toilet was clean with a basic set-up, and wi-fi worked well for a fee. Around an hour before landing hot towels, drinks and snacks were offered again as well as choice between a few different types of warm wraps.
We landed in Dubai a bit behind schedule due to strong headwind on our flight. We parked at a remote stand and were bussed to the terminal by which time the luggage was already out.
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