Ethiopian Airlines

✅ Verified Review | Paris to Johannesburg via Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines. A chaotic check in experience for a packed flight at CDG. Boarding was supposed to be via zone, but when boarding time came at CDG it was every man for himself. Basically it was organized chaos. Passengers boarded with hand luggage that did not fit into the overhead compartments, and I ended up helping the cabin crew repack the compartments to fit everything in, as I am quite tall. The flight from CDG to ADD was the noisiest, smelliest flight I have ever been on, and 4 hours into the 6.5 hour journey, I wanted to use the toilet. The floor and toilet was covered in urine and toilet paper. I reported this to the cabin crew and nothing was done about it. The interior was the the most tired and dated I have been on, and my inflight entertainment was working on and off. Food service was abysmal, and after service the crew disappeared for the rest of the flight. The aircraft was quite dirty and one of the overhead bins opened in ADD when we were slammed into the ground upon landing. The leg from ADD to JNB was also in a 777-200LR, but on the upside it was quite empty. Meal service on this leg was a snack and a lunch and from all the meals this was passable. Service in general was OK, but nothing to rave about. In general the whole Ethiopian experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I would suggest that the airline focus on customer service, and do something to fix abysmal ADD airport before they consider expanding further. A more modern cabin refresh wouldn't hurt either.

✅ Verified Review | Disappointed with Ethiopian Airlines from Johannesburg to Paris via Addis Ababa. Check in at JNB went very smoothly. The equipment was changed from a 777-300ER to an A350. The aircraft was modern, but the Ethiopian interior made it look dated instantly. Overall seat comfort is acceptable provided the flight is empty. The cabin wasn't very clean, and meal service was barely passable. The Cabin Crew made up for the dismal food and drink by being friendly. Boarding at ADD was chaotic to say the least. Aircraft was a 787, and was in a generally good condition. Quite an empty flight, so you could stretch out. The meal served was exactly the same as on the previous leg. Initially I thought to give them a try as they seem to be on the up and up, but after this flight I will avoid them.

✅ Verified Review | I traveled from Mumbai to Sao Paolo visa Addis-Ababa and back on end-May, Early June. I have to say that I am very happy with Ethiopian Airlines. The in-flight staff are friendly and courteous, the cabins well-maintained. But most importantly, the planes fly on time. Addis-Ababa airport is somewhat crowded but not quite as bad as most people make out to be. I think it is mostly the shock in comparison with swanky modern airports that catch people off-guard. But when you get over that the airport is actually function quite ok and the staff are by and large helpful. Particularly, if your stop-over is less that 3 hours, it is not a problem at all. For longer stop-overs the small size could make it a bit boring. For the Mumbai-Addis Ababa route the planes are either Boeing 777 or Boeing 737 when the number of passenger is less. The latter does not have personalized screen with every seat which is a negative. However, they play a movie on the common screen. On the Addis Ababa - Sau Paolo route the plane is Boeing 787 (Dreamliner). The food is sumptuous, but Ethipian could consider bring in some variety. On my way from Addis-Ababa to Sao Paolo the same meal was served on three occasions. Agreed that it is a relatively cheap airlines, but a little variety would not increase cost. On the whole I would fly Ethiopian again, and would recommend anyone who is not unnecessarily snooty about small things.

✅ Verified Review | Kuala Lumpur to Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Airlines planes are modern but their interior is poorly maintained and IFE antiquated. Cabin staff are reasonably helpful and usually quite nice. There is a real problem with their meals - uninspiring in Business and inedible in Economy, and it is getting worse despite their new catering facilities. Addis airport is being expanded and renovated but until then, it will remain one of the worst airports. Ethiopian will take you from A to B, similar to a budget airline in Europe.

✅ Verified Review | Dar es Salaam to Kuala Lumpur via Addis Ababa / Bangkok. I mostly fly with a bicycle (think of Pippi Longstocking). At Ethiopian Airlines you can't add special baggage online to your flight, even not attach a notice. But sports equipment is on their baggage scedule and a good fare for bicycles is given (100 USD for intercontinental flights). I went and booked from Tanzania (online), they have no call-center there, even Ethiopian is operating much from Dar es Salaam. An email to the airport office was not answered in 9 days. I called up to 8 telephone numbers before I reached somebody, who was kind, but don't understood what he should do with 'bicycle', while I wanted to go by aircraft. The clerk absolutely not knowed, how to book special baggege to a flight and what sports equipment should be. I should call the city office, where nobody answered the phone. The nearest callcenter in Addis Ababa not worked technically in Tanzania. So after 5 days with no success to get the bicycle on my flight, I visited the Ethiopian Dar es Salaam city office, where a very kind women tried to understand what I want, but after all not find any way to get the special baggage booked. After 1 day she wrote me a nice email, I should call the airport office, where another kind woman told me, she can't do anything, but I should simply bring the bicycle packed to check-in. They will take it in any case. At the check-in I was told, the packed bicycle is very welcome and will cost 250 USD. I referenced the website price of 100 USD, and the ground manager told me the bicycle are welcome, the cost is 200 USD, payable only cash. I was short in funds and so I had to organize Tanzanian Shilling from ATM. The only properly working international ATM at Julius-Nyerere-Airport was defect, so while check-in runs, I jumped with a taxi to the closest bank. The ground handling manager then took 500.000 Tanzanian Shilling, which are 223 USD (Mai 2017). The baggage (all within the limits) was proceeded and a view minutes later I got a receipt upon 200 USD received for excess baggage with many thanks. This is typical african and I found deals like that many times on my half year visit of north and east africa. The new old spirit. It is still less expensive as the excess baggage rates for bicycles at other carriers, but not the 100 $, which were wide spread for sports baggage intercontinental. On the other hand the flight was nice. I can't complain either the crew nor the aircrafts. The girls were nice and smiley and the jets clean, comfortable and fully functional, while in Africa on the ground nearly everything is dirty and disfunctional. For me, the crowd is also a part of flight quality. People, who complain the 'uneatable' meals on board never have been eating in Ethiopia. Compared with the food of simple people or what is served even in better restaurants, the onboard meals were luxury. They serve also Ethiopian beer which is very tasty. A bit disorganized Bole Airport (Addis). But in total it worked, many seats and loungers, fairly clean restrooms, shops with enough merchandise. No comparison to outside the airport. If you choose Ethiopian, you choose Africa.

✅ Verified Review | Harare to Marrakech via Madrid. The flight from Harare to Addis was great. The shock came in Addis when flight ET712 to Madrid was overbooked. Upon checking in at Gate 9 (changed from Gate 1), the Ethiopian Airline officers stood three of us aside, apparently because our visa to Spain and Morocco had to be verified by a senior airline officer. Myself, a man from the Democratic Republic of Congo and a lady from Equatorial Guinea. During the check-in process, the man from the Congo protested fiercely, and was let in. As the queue died, we (me and the lady from Malabo) went to the boarding desk to get the EA senior to verify our VISA's to facilitate. The Ethiopian Airline officer handling the boarding looked aside and shouted, Boarding closed we will re-route you. The senior officer had not pitched up. No one had spoken to us. Nothing. I couldn't believe it that an airline would cook false stories to manage its own problem of overbooking. Fastforward to 02:00 Addis Time, 3 hours after the initial boarding time, we were still in their office and the lady from Malabo promised to get into another flight on Tuesday May 16th. I refused calmly and with smiles of spite. They tried to get me into ET702 to go to Morocco through Rome and i refused, returning their initial transit VISA lie that if i could not do a 60 minute transit to Morocco through Madrid, then i still could not take option of going through Rome, albeit 48 hours later. Later, another officer assisted by getting me proceed to Morocco by EgyptAir. His reason for my transfer "flight overbooked". And at this time I asked to see the Supervisor. The supervisor did not come. As this batch of officer's prepared to go home at 03h00, my AirEgypt flight to Cairo was also boarding. I left Addis without seeing the supervisor or getting the truth. I will not fly Ethiopian Airlines on my way back home.

✅ Verified Review | Rome to Cape Town via Addis Ababa. My wife and I recently travelled on Ethiopian Airlines and was pleasantly surprised by the excellent service. The hostesses were very helpful and the meals were very good. Addis Ababa airport is a bit crowded but an overall pleasant experience was had. It is truly value for money.

✅ Verified Review | Nairobi to Lagos via Addis Ababa. For a frequent flyer like me, Ethiopian Airlines is a default choice for travelling across Africa because of its extensive network and, credit where due, on time performance. The good stops here as it is decades behind the service level that a global standard airline (or even Kenya Airways) would offer. Boarding in Nairobi, Addis and Lagos was disorganized, with no separate lines for Gold / Business Class. Despite being new, planes look worn with unresponsive touch screens, very limited movie selection and poor quality earphones. Food was utterly inedible and the service protocol is weird - Ethiopian dishes are available on flights originating from Addis but not explicitly offered to passengers by the crew. Addis Ababa is the worst airport in Africa: dirty, poorly lit and completely overcrowded. The same goes for Ethiopian Airlines lounges. Avoid Ethiopian if you have another choice in Africa.

✅ Verified Review | Ethiopian Airlines has some very good aircraft but they deploy old, worn out aircraft into India. Seats are not clean and stained. The floor is littered and not cleaned well. The AC does not work properly. The meal portion is too small and not filling. In the 1.50 hrs Addis Ababa - Khartoum sector, they finished the meal service with a pocket size Burger and a fruit juice, that too at lunch time. Budget airlines are better. The Boeing 767 on Addis Ababa - Delhi is past its retirement age. It is clearly unfit and not airworthy. In flight service is just OK. No in flight entertainment - few common screens leave passengers with no choice but to see what is being displayed. Most ports for earphones in the seats do not work. While this airline has a large fleet of the B787, not sure why India isn't an important market for them. Miles to go.

✅ Verified Review | Kinshasa to Bangkok via Addis Ababa. I took this flight 3 time before as it is a good value for the money. The leg from Kinshasa was unfortunately done in an old B737 aircraft instead of the Boeing 787 as usual. The reclining seats were broken and the cabin old and filthy. The real problems started in Addis Ababa, first the departure (at 00:20am) of the Bangkok flight was announced to be delayed 1hr due to technical reasons then another hour and so on. The Ethiopian ground staff was not good communicating the reasons for the delay and to update the passengers. Finally the Business class passengers were allowed back into the lounge at around 2:30am. The flight finally got on its way at 7:00am.