Review: Air Djibouti Economy Djibouti-Aden (Yemen)
- Konrad Tillman
- 2 days ago
- 10 min read
Intro
Disclaimer: This is not one of my normal reviews, such as United Polaris or Singapore Suites, this is an adventure filled with almost missing my flight, smoking cigarettes with a Yemeni in an airport bathroom, and not having a visa when arriving in Yemen 😅. It's an adventure!
Welcome to the first proper review on the internet of the national flag carrier of Djibouti: Air Djibouti 🇩🇯. Following an interesting one-night stay in the old part of Djibouti City, it was time to head off to country number 123: Yemen 🇾🇪.
Okay, so how was Air Djibouti? Honestly, not bad at all, and I would be happy to fly with them again. Let's jump in.
Route- Djibouti-Aden
Flight Number- DJ303
Seat- 1A
Aircraft- RJ145
Date- May 28th, 2025
Flight Time- 35 Minutes
Price Paid- 232$ OW
How I Booked
In my previous post, I touched on the complicated process of booking a flight to mainland Yemen. With all of the Yemenia flights sold out, and Air Djibouti offering 4x flights per week, I decided to book a one-way flight on the way to Aden for 232$ OW. Very expensive for a 35-minute flight, but cheaper than Yemenia!
Yes, someone had to book it for me in person in Aden, as you cannot book these tickets online.
Heading To Djibouti Airport
Enjoying a lovely coffee outside the hotel Menelik in the city center, I bid farewell to my newfound English friends and decided to grab a taxi. I ran into this lovely man, and for the next 20 minutes, we talked about life in Djibouti while practicing my French.
I've been learning French for a while now, and it finally seems to be getting better and better!
Getting from Djibouti City to the airport is a pretty straightforward task. Simply flag down any taxi driver, and it should cost about 2500 local currency (about 18$) for the 10-minute drive. I might not like Djibouti very much (I'll get to why eventually, but primarily due to cost), but the airport is very efficient and close to everything.
Dropped off by the taxi driver at 9:30 am, it was time to go and check in for the 12:45 pm departure, or so I thought...
Check In/Immigration
Heading up the stairs, I was greeted by all the all too familiar Djibouti airport entrance. The morning prior, I had arrived by Ethiopian Airlines, and the airport is so small that departure and arrival are right next to each other.
Clearing the first security checkpoint, I found the small check-in areas featuring 7 desks, which all airlines use here.
Arriving at the desk which was almost empty, the staff informed me that I had almost missed the check-in time. For a 12:45 pm flight? Well, like the dumb buffoon I am, I had relied on flighty, when in fact my ticket said 10:45. My oh my... I told them I had sent my visa and they saw that, but...
Now came the next issue: the supervisor wanted me to check in one of my luggage due to the size of the aircraft. Mashallah, come on, you know I never check in any luggage, like ever. Having flown this same aircraft on Airlink, I knew my bag would fit, so I pushed back a little, and told them I had 12 lithium-ion batteries (true) and they would not fit into one bag.
Sure enough, after 20 minutes, they let me through.
Okay, Djibouti airport, you guys are either the best or an absolute mess, there is no in between. No more than 50 meters after check-in was immigration, and today, I had the kindest man I had come across this year. He offered me chocolate biscuits as we talked about Djibouti, and he even called me "crazy" for going to Yemen.
He said, "Are you sure you are going to Yemen? Real ticket?"
I replied, "Yes, of course, I will come back in three days."
He said, "I will see you then, my friend, and maybe one day I can take you to my family house in Hargeisa" (Somalia is 5 places, hence the stars on the flag, Djibouti is one"
I replied, "Of course, Mahadsanid, have a nice day".
The Small Airport Of Djibouti
I've been to my fair share of small airports, and the only flagship airport smaller than Djibouti has to be Juba, South Sudan. You have to carry your bag up the stairs, and at the top is where you will find enough seats for about 50 people, 2 gates, 1 lounge, a duty-free, a smoking area, and one small shop selling beer for 11$ a pop. Madness.
I'm not perfect, and even after traveling to many of the so-called "dangerous places", I was a little nervous and grabbed a beer. You know, this tour guide messaged me on instagram a while back and said, "come to Yemen". No references, the country is in a civil war, and it's probably very dumb that I did this.
Having said that, I trust people, even when I probably shouldn't. My mum always told me, "If you don't put yourself out there, how are you supposed to know what the universe has in store for you?". I think she meant for women, but the concept applies 😅.
With boarding already beginning, I polished off my beer in the bathroom like the true degenerate that I am 😒.
Boarding
Heading the longgggg walk over to Gate 2 (about 30 meters), I was pleased to see another security checkpoint. Well, there hadn't been a security checkpoint, so I was like wtf 😳.
It was fast and relatively straightforward, and within no time, we were all through to the waiting room. I loved how three staff members came up to me and asked to see my boarding pass, like, "Yemen, this is to Yemen, you are going to Yemen?". I said, "Yes". 😅
With no wifi (you have to have a Djibouti phone number to access it), and Verizon travel pass not working, all I thought to myself was "I hope my guide shows up at the airport, otherwise I am stranded in Aden".
Oh yeah, I also didn't have a return visa to Djibouti yet, more on that in a bit LOL.
Anyways, with no wifi and twiddling my thumbs like a doofus I am, I headed to the bathroom where I found a Yemeni washing his feet while smoking a cigarette. Talk about multitasking! I bummed one off of him and we chilled out and talked. For those wondering, everyone smokes in bathrooms here, including immigration officers, so don't come at me pleaseee lol.
With nothing to do whatsoever, I looked out of the window and saw this beautiful A330 (which I am curious who it used to belong to), as well as a Turkish drone flying in. This is how you know you've made it deep into the ends of the world...
And you know what, I had "Cold Heart" by Elton John playing in the background.
By 10:20, boarding was called. Unfortunately, my 1K status didn't get me pre-boarding 😅, but with a load of only 42 passengers today, we were quickly ushered onto a bus and driven on the short ride to the RJ145 waiting to take us over to Aden.
For those wondering, Air Djibouti operates a fleet of two aircraft, a 145 and a 145, both pictured above. Today, we were on this beautiful RJ145.
I was standing at the back, letting people on first to be respectful, when that supervisor from before came up to me and offered to take my picture. Not only that, he said that I could sit in the first row of the plane and gave me a fist bump.
So grateful to you, as you made this short flight even more special! So, thank you!
The Seat/Cabin
Stepping onboard, I was pleased to find a very similar setup to the Airlink RJ135 I flew not too long ago to Mozambique. Seats are arranged in a 1-2 configuration, offering so many amenities, I had to go through two pages of notes.
I'm joking. It's simply a seat in a plane with nothing else. No IFE, no wifi, and you can forget about Starlink. And you know what? I'd take this any day over Emirates First Class. Sitting with local Yemenis, and vibing on an airline that no one flies. That is travel.
Can I just point out how interesting it is to see QR/AM cabinets in the galley? You can tell this plane has been through it!
Departure
Unlike a whole colossal regime that most airlines undergo, boarding was completed by 10:30, at which point the boarding door closed. No pushback tugs, just simply "off we go".
Djibouti airport is relatively small, but also has quite a large runway due to how many countries have military bases here (including the US, which deploys drones to Somalia and Yemen).
However, there isn't much traffic, so we had a nice and chill back taxi.
We held for a few moments before the engines fired up, and we had a slow climb out of JIB. Look, I have been on my fair share of "why am I flying this plane?", but this plane was properly showing its age. Not in an unsafe way at all, but more everything rattling as if an orchestra was playing in the galley 😅.
The Flight/Service
Contemplating whether I was in over my head, I put on my airpod max and turned on "Where Is the Love" by The Black Eyed Peas. What a tune.
Due to how light we were, we had hit 10,000 feet in a matter of moments, at which point the cabin crew came around to distribute an ice-cold bottle of water. Considering it was 45 degrees Celsius in Djibouti, I welcomed this more than the milk I got when I was a baby 💀.
Once the cabin crew had finished up with the water round, they once again passed through the cabin offering a selection of juice boxes consisting of Mango, Apple, and one other one which I don't remember.
But I had a trick up my sleeve. I knew that I was going to be a touch nervous (nothing like flying into the MOG), so I had bought a pair of white chocolate dairy milk buttons for this exact moment.
Enjoying the views out of the window, munching on my buttons, it was soon time to descend.
Arrival
No more than 25 minutes after takeoff, the captain came on to announce that we would be descending momentarily into Aden. My word, this is it. We are landing in a place that is deemed to be the most unsafe country in the world, and I am supposed to meet up with a guy whom I have never met.
At this point, I got my first look at Aden. What a beautiful city!
Interestingly, the approach pattern varies on a day-to-day basis, but today we flew South of Little Aden, passing by the South of the Crater (more on these places soon), before making a left bank, another left bank, and then being on...
Short final...
Oh my gosh, how beautiful the ocean is! All of those moments of anxiety quickly vanished when I realized that, wait for it, there are people here, and cars? Wait, you mean the media lied to us??? No way.
We touched down about 20 minutes ahead of schedule with a very nice landing. Welcome to country number 123!
Interestingly, we taxied by a retired Yemenia A310. What a chubby but beautiful aircraft.
Bidding farewell to the flight attendant by door 1, I stepped outside to breathe some of the cleanest air I have breathed in my whole life, all while sweating as if I had just sat in a sauna for the past year. Don't come to Yemen in the summer...
It wasn't over yet, as we were ushered into a bus, ready to go to immigration!
Immigration
Now for the story you have been waiting for:
Arriving at immigration, I was waiting to see whether my guide would be there, as usually someone can recognize the only "bule goblok" on the plane...
Well, there was no guide, and there wasn't even a sign of him. For the first time in my life (in this sort of situation), I just laughed for a minute. But then I actually had to think to myself, "what am I going to do". As it would turn out, Aden airport has free wifi. Huh????
So I messaged him, and then he spoke with immigration on speaker for 5 minutes, and eventually he just walked into immigration. LOL. They stamped my passport with a "visa stamp", which is basically a stamp that is a whole page, that says "visa". Quite rare these days.
Sliding the immigration some lunch money (wink wink), we made our way outside into the brutally hot Yemeni weather, ready to go get some... wait for it... American burgers (or the Yemeni version of Shake Shack).
WELCOME TO YEMEN BABYYYYY!
Final Thoughts
One word: WOW
You know what, I'll come out and say it: flying Air Djibouti was an absolute treat. Sure, the airline doesn't have the "ICE IFE system", offer a meal, or even have a plane that isn't 20 years old. However, the supervisor turned out to be a lovely man, they offered us a cold bottle of water, and where is the fun in a flight if you aren't smoking a cigarette in an airline toilet with a local Yemeni. What a time, and a flight I will never ever forget. Stay tuned for the rest of the series!
Yemen Series:
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