Bikini designer Anastazia Christianidis, who was born in Greece, shared updates from her Qatar Airways flight to her 385,000 followers on Instagram.

While the Federal Government has banned all non-essential international travel, Christianidis was able to leave the country after successfully applying for an exemption.

But it was a nerve-racking process, with the influencer explaining the green light only came through within two hours of her flight taking off from Sydney.

“You need one good reason and a lot of proof!” she wrote on her Stories as she explained how she was on an outgoing international flight.

“Never give up until the very last moment,” she added. “Biggest learning experience ever!”

Christianidis said the first leg of her journey, to Doha, was an “intense” experience that she likened to being in a “scary movie” due to the dramatic COVID-19 measures on-board.

Qatar Airways announced last week it was making face masks and plastic face shields mandatory for all economy passengers.

The shields, which resemble welders masks, are provided to passengers when they reach their boarding gate.

And Christianidis’ flight was no exception, with the model sharing footage of herself wearing the mask and face shield combo on-board.

The flight also featured cabin crew wearing full-body hazard suits, which Christianidis said were like “nuclear factory suits” and made her feel like she was “in a scary movie”.

But there were some major perks to the flight, such as the social distancing measures that had her sitting next to two empty seats – allowing her to stretch out to sleep – and the very clear night sky out the window, possibly due to the massive downturn in air traffic during the pandemic.

Christianidis updated fans when she arrived at Doha, where she waited for her connecting flight to Greece while luxuriating in the swanky Qatar business lounge.

“Everything is intense,” she said about the first leg of the journey. “Intense uniforms, intense masks and shields – we have shields.”

Qatar Airways said face shields would now be provided to passengers before boarding, along with a protection kit containing hand sanitiser, a surgical face mask and disposable gloves.

“Anyone refusing to wear the face shield during the boarding process will be not allowed to travel,” a Qatar Airways spokesperson told CNN Travel last week.