Solution 1 and friend!
Regarding time off downroute, it will depend on the destination. On some of the routes u get alot of time off,and on others, such as the Baku trips u dont get any days off, as typically on a 4 day trip there is always a shuttle in between....this being to places such as Bishkek or Almaty. The shuttle departs early evening ( UK time), but since Baku is 4 hours ahead, its late evening local time.....even later if the flight is delayed. So,if u depart LHR on a sunday for instance, u will arrive late evening local time and will operate the shuttle on Monday evening.....arrive back in Baku mid morning Tuesday,and then operate back to LHR on the Wednesday.....dep time about 8 or 9am local I think.......U will get back to LHR about midday(ish) UK time. U could then be on standby, OR rostered a three day trip on the Thursday....working 7 days in all . I think there is a 4 day trip to Baku ( or could be longer) where there arent any shuttles, which is seen as quite a "prize" amongst the crew! Only for the privileged this one!!!!
Generally U will get about two days off in between trips, but this isnt always so! U may do a 4 day trip, with one day off afterwards, followed by another 4 day trip or 3 dayer! The special day off that Pondskipper is on about is basically something that is tagged onto the end of a trip, and is used for operational reasons, and most DEFINATELY should NOT be taken for granted as a concrete day off!
One of the longest flight duties operated is down to Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) . There are differing slip patterns with this one, and you could find urself operating a 4 day trip followed by a 3 day trip.....so thats Ethiopia twice via Alexandria! Believe u me this is VERY tiring, as each sector is approx 4h20m and 3h50m respectively!!! This doesnt include a tech and pax disembarkation stop of approx 35-40minutes in Alexandria. The money is not bad for mainline crew, however U WILL work for it! Days off in the UK are like I said , the 8 days minimum and that can take its toll after a while.......! Most of the crew are VERY fatigued, especially when working a full time roster.
The two new destinations are most likely going to be Khartoum (Sudan) and Yekaterinburg which is in Russia .
Hope this ( real) insight is of some help for u !