The Airline: UL
The Segment: CMB-DXB
The Aircraft: 4R-ALS Airbus A330-243
The Date: Saturday June 22, 2024

A 2000 mile hop to scoop up optimal British Airways Tier Points from Colombo to Dubai. 4R-ALS being this evening's bird. Another delayed departure, according to the Captain, it was the result of some mechanical works that needed to be done. Remote stand action meant being enthused by the aircraft on the tarmac before boarding.




In seat 1K and I had a seatmate in 1J, a former engineer with the airline who has lifetime travel for 30 odd years of service. Meant the 4 and half hours passed in the blink of an eye, talking about all things aviation.




The meal was wonderful, a stuffed chicken breast with a nice spicy sauce and tumeric rice. Rounded off with a lovely cuppa.
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I can't comment on the crew because they knew who was sitting next to me and so I cannot the honestly gauge the service level, however it meant my whisky glass was never empty and I had at least a litre of water as well 🤣

The ePassport gates didn't like my tired b1tchface, so I had to go through the immigration channel, but it did mean I got a stamp in the passport, which is a win.

Uber to the hotel in Sharjah for a 11hr transit so I booked myself a room for the night at the Pullman Sharjah, ready for the next day of travelling. It was showing as a 44 min ride to the hotel, but old mate was a bit of a Speedy Gonzales and exploited the sheer wave of torque from the electric motors and we were slingshotted into the fast land. For a redhead like me, the neck snapping acceleration was exhilarating. Some might even say I was enthused. We arrived at the hotel in around 32 min.

I also think he tried to scam a job to drive me to the airport for 250AED because apparently there's no Uber in Sharjah, where the Uber app is currently quoting about 55AED, although I suspect it may be a bit closer to 75AED in the morning. The ride from Dubai Airport to the hotel was 107AED


First time in the UAE so I get to check off 2 new territories to the country list. The concrete jungle was interesting to see at night.


Tonight's digs are quite nice, I was even given a small upgrade to a water view room, and paid for the room with both points and cash.






Anyway, time to stare at the back of my eyelids, it has been around 36 hours now since arriving into KUL and besides a short snooze before dinner on the flight to DXB I haven't had any sleep.

A few tight connections coming up, so let's see how we go, Sri Lankan was running late on both flights today...