ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES Passenger Reviews and Passenger Trip Reports

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ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  10 March 2010 by John Charlesworth   (UK)

London to Juba business class. Very much a 90's product but the big, old, comfortable soft seats resulted in an undisturbed nights sleep. Cabin very tired, food ok if nothing to yell about and IFE from the dark ages. This route avoids a lot of hassle and time wasted when you go to Juba via Nairobi. One note, the Servisair lounge on Friday night was standing room only so we returned to the main terminal.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  27 February 2010 by Hirofumi Suda   (Japan)

Entebbe - Addis - Cairo, and Addis - Dire Dawa and Lalibela - Addis. First sector a two hour flight, with overhead screen showing American comedy and couple of audio channels. Was served hot meal, service good. Two domestic sectors on F50, outdated plane but inexpensive with drinks and snacks served. There was a incident on Addis - Dire Dawa sector - just before landing in Dire Dawa the plane encountered low visibility, and as a result it had to be returned back to Addis. I was expecting the cancellation but we were put in the waiting lounge after de-planing. After two hours, the same plane departed and landed safely in Dire Dawa. Ground handling was professional, at least I was glad that the plane was not cancelled. Addis to Cairo on newer B737-800 but worn out a little. Similar inflight service to EBB-ADD sector, however crew was less personal. They were chatting during disembarkation.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  17 February 2010 by David Bajomi-Lazar   (Hungary)

LHR-ADD, ADD-FCO-LHR and four domestic flights with Ethiopian in February 2010. Flights were on time, and there was no overbooking, although most flights were full. The aircraft are not new (B757 international, F50 on domestic flights), there is no personal TV screen, service was only average, but food was actually good - flights were very good value.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  5 February 2010 by D Mekonnen   (South Africa)

Traveled with ET multiple times. Have found service to be consistent although on most instances planes took after around an hours delay. Food is good for economy with staff fairly friendly. Check in is perhaps the most inefficient, taking far to long and with no self- checkin booths for even at hub in Addis. Ground Staff especially at JNB tend to be rather unfriendly and mechanical. Plane used on ADD-JNB route is a B757-700/800 with old IFE system and little leg room in economy and aisles that are to small. Frequent Flyer awards kick in after far too many miles.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  26 January 2010 by V Riccardi   (Italy)

FCO-ZNZ via ADD and DAR, DAR-FCO via ADD. This is the worst journey in my life. FCO-ADD seat broken, staff was ok but the plane was very ancient. DAR to ADD (schedule 3.30am) was deleted at 1.00am. The company brought us in a hotel and put us on the next flight to ADD, but we lost the connection to Rome, so they left us in ADD airport on waiting list to Rome. Fortunately we arrived only with a delay of 24 hours. Also on the flight ADD-FCO my seat is broken as many other. I travelled with an infant but for the Company it wasn't important. They deal me worse than the other passenger.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  26 January 2010 by J Taylor   (UK)

We travelled to Johannesburg from London via Addis. The service was good and food was acceptable for 3-star rating of the airline, entertainment was adequate.T he return trip was more or less the same with the addition of the flight going via Rome which we were not advised about. I would grumble about the time keeping of the airline as this is really substandard. Both legs outward as well as inward were delayed - and substantially delayed. In order for me to travel this airline again in the future they have to improve their time keeping and learn to stick to flight schedules.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  9 January 2010 by D Baldwin   (UAE)

Dubai – Addis Ababa – Johannesburg. B767 was two hours late leaving Dubai. Check-in was painfully slow. Food OK and two rounds of drinks. We had a ten hour wait at Addis and promised on the website we would be offered overnight accommodation in a hotel - untrue. The hotel booking service was chaotic, to say the least, and after about one hour of waiting they told us that our tickets did not allow for a free hotel. Instead we could pay $100 for a room. We refused and spent the night on airport seats in the transit lounge. It was very cold and fortunately we managed to get two blankets from the grumpy staff. The flight to Joburg was excellent. It was on time. It was Christmas day and we had some lovely turkey, with some strong G&Ts. Return flights on time with good food and drinks.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  7 January 2010 by P Yagnik   (India)

BOM-ADD-BZV (Brazzaville). Check in smooth compared to earlier harrowing experiences with the ground staff at Mumbai Airport. We were supposed to board from Gate 11 which was changed to Gate 10, the announcement was made 10-15 minutes before the boarding call. The flight was delayed by about an hour, which was due to late incoming aircraft. Apologies only came towards the end, while boarding until then we had no information as to when we are departing. Most passengers had connecting flights from Addis and were worried if they would miss their connection. The aircraft was a better than what they usually send on this route. The cabin crew was lethargic and disinterested. They did a drinks round and then handed out meals in mach 3 speed with a rude "VEG OR NON VEG". Food was bad. No drinks were offered with the meal. Followed by tea or coffee. Thank you fell on deaf years. Addis- Brazzaville route was much better. The cabin crew more cheerful, polite and attentive. Food was a little better in terms of quantity and quality. There were 2 drink rounds and at least 3 rounds of tea and coffee. All this on a flight shorter than BOM-ADD flight. They delayed my baggage at BZV. There was no Ethiopian representative near baggage claim. When we went to the Ethiopian airport office it was locked. My bag arrived the next day, with no apology. I am a frequent flier with Ethiopian and its almost disheartening to see the lowering standards of their service quality.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  21 December 2009 by L Dore   (Zimbabwe)

Harare-Tel Aviv via Addis. Dated planes. Outbound planes on schedule, return flights overbooked and about 60 minutes delayed. Same recurring problem with Ethiopian that no information is given about why there is a delay, and how long it is expected to last. And cabin staff have no clue about how to store cabin luggage efficiently, and seem to think assisting passengers in this regard is not their responsibility. They may look sweet and pretty, but are not very efficient.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  12 December 2009 by C Mashavave   (Zimbabwe)

HRE-DXB via Lusaka and Addis Ababa. B757 to Ethiopia, standard ok for a 3-star plane. Food came 2.5hrs after we left HRE. Kept asking for a drink but the attendants would only say "ok" and zoom past me - got it on my 5th attempt at asking. The cabin staff were not very friendly, giving very short answers to passengers. They seemed impatient. Addis to DXB was ok, food came on time (the same menu as the 1st leg), but still attendants weren't friendly or smiling at all - looked like they were impatient as well. Overall, good value for money considering it's the cheapest along that route, and is a 3-star For now, I'll try other alternatives for the same route.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  18 November 2009 by Bob Gould   (UK)

LHR-ADD return. Airport check in at ADD seamless. Food and drink served promptly and efficiently by staff. Plane a bit scruffy, but it flew okay! Main complaint was that we waited over an hour at LHR for our luggage. Three internal flights in Ethiopia on time and again check in was fine.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  8 November 2009 by Y Nomel   (Canada)

Domestic and international flights were horrific. London to Addis in economy : the plane was ancient, seats did not recline, no entertainment. Domestic flights worse, staff was downright abusive to passengers. On a flight from Dire dawa to Addis passengers were kept in an extremely hot check in area for over 10 hours with no food or water. Staff continually lied and intentionally misinformed us about our flight status. The flight was eventually cancelled at 1am, when Ethiopian Airlines asked us to leave the airport and had not arranged transportation hotels or food. It was the worst travel experience I have ever had.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  26 October 2009 by H Bush   (UK)

An engine of the very old B757 caught fire at full speed while taking off from Addis to London on 23 October. The flight had been delayed for 90 minutes while they did something to the same engine. Ethiopian staff took is to a restaurant in the terminal and gave us some food and water. I was suffering from panic attacks as a result of the incident and asked to be taken to hospital. An ambulance was promised but never arrived. After waiting for three hours I decided not to travel with them and made arrangements over the phone to travel with Emirates. I told Ethiopian staff about my decision and I was told that in that case they could not do anything for me. They caused my problem and could not help me at all. Emirates staff help me a lot and I was seen by a doctor in Dubai. Ethiopian Airlines should be classified as less than one star airline.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  14 October 2009 by J Fernandez   (Bahrain)

Kuwait to N'Djamena (Chad) on business with stopovers in Dubai and Addis. After reaching Dubai, is when I was told that the flight to Addis was a new aircraft being sent for some livery work and had no business class section. The whole plane was economy. EA ground staff told me that if I wanted Business, I would have to wait 1 day for the next flight. Not wanting to miss my meetings, I took the flight in economy, with the assurance of EA staff that the connecting flight from Addis to N'Djamena would be business. On reaching Addis, I was informed by ground staff that the next leg was also economy! After waiting in the the airport for 3 hours past the departure time with absolutely no information from anybody in Ethiopian, they tell us that the flight to N'Djamena has been cancelled! After another hour, and passengers getting agitated, they decide to put us up in hotels. After 24 hours I get the next flight to N'Djamena - on the class I paid for, thankfully. A very bad experience that I would not want to repeat.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES customer review :  13 October 2009 by John Colly   (UK)

We've just completed an epic 30-hour journey, from Zanzibar to Heathrow, made considerably longer thanks to this substandard airline. The food is bizarre - lasagna cakes, chewy chicken, dry fish. Forget any sleep when meal time arrives - dinner trays are flipped down in sleeping passenger faces, jolting them awake. Staff are aloof and rude. Ask a question you're met with and annoyed 'what' or 'I don't know'. When our flight was delayed in Addis Ababa, staff didn't have a clue what was going on, and no explanation was given for the delay. When we touched down in Rome, an hour-long refuelling turned into 2.5 hours, again without explanation. The planes are dated - at least 10 years old typically. Film choice okay - provided you could get your headphones to work. It is among the cheapest of the crop - but if you've a connecting flight, don't like delays or rude staff, care about legroom and a reasonable meal, look elsewhere.