Ethiopian Airlines

Customer Reviews

4 star Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 591 reviews
5/10
4 star Skytrax Rating
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1/10

"no recourse from airline"

(United States)

Verified Review | Washington to Blantyre via Addis Ababa. Stranded with no recourse from airline. Booked tickets in May for travel in December. Tickets paid for and confirmed, yet prior to travelling they cancelled reservation for one leg of the journey. Called agents and they informed me that they cancelled reservation but unable to give answer as to why they cancelled reservation. Finally got rebooked after four phone calls but still on waiting list for last leg of journey. Called again and they say no seats available. Went online and I can clearly see seats available and am able to book on the final leg myself. Informed Ethiopian Airlines of the seat availability and they said they will see what they can do. Nothing done to resolve problem. Encountered many lies from agents, they will inform that they will call you back but dont have your hopes up for this, they will never call you. If you call to follow up be prepared to be disconnected for no reason. Also remember according to them, it's never their fault. If anything goes wrong with booking you will suffer because the reservations agents are incompetent and unwilling to resolve problem. No one can explain how a confirmed booking can be cancelled yet the same journey can be repurchased online again, so flights were not cancelled but reservation cancelled for a phantom reason. After desperation, I ended up paying for another ticket, which is much easier to do than to deal with the airlines agents. Pay a little more and travel another airline, its not worth being stranded in another country and the airline will not do anything about it. I would understand if flights get cancelled but clearly not the case in this situation.
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteIAD to BLZ via ADD
Date FlownOctober 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"not recommend Ethiopian Airlines"

(United States)

Verified Review | Newark to Douala via Lomé. I flew from to US to spend Christmas Eve and day with my parents in Douala, Cameroon. The disorganization started in Newark where we had a 2 hours delay. The boarding took at least an hour, with several customers having the same seat number! When we finally took off, a lot of customers, including me, had concerns about missing their connection. We were assured that connecting flights will wait for this flight to land. Well, when we landed, I asked if the flight to Douala left, they said 'no'. The crew at the Airport had prepared boarding passes for all connecting passengers. Mine and several were not printed. They asked us to wait, and be patient. 2 hours later, with the patience gone, we were told we did not have a reservation, the flight was full, and left. No consideration whatsoever to listen to us, no compassion at all for passengers who will be spending Christmas away from families. No apologies at all. I'm currently in an hotel, waiting for the next flight on the 26th, no guarantees I'll have a seat. I'd not recommend Ethiopian Airlines at all.
AircraftBoeing 787
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteEWR to to DLA via LFW
Date FlownDecember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"cannot recommend Ethiopian Airlines"

(Germany)

Verified Review | Frankfurt to Lilongwe via Addis Ababa and Dar es Salaam. Flights were all in all okay, but when I arrived in Lilongwe, one piece of luggage was (and still is) missing. I reported the loss immediately at the airport in Lilongwe and got a "Property Irregularity Report". Despite this, many calls to the airport, visits to the airport, many calls to all sorts of phone hotline, many e-mails, even letters sent by regular mail, so far nothing has happened. The airline is silent, no reaction at all. The loss is above 1.100 EUR. Such service is unacceptable for a member of the Star Alliance. I cannot recommend Ethiopian Airlines at all.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteFRA to LLW via ADD / DAR
Date FlownNovember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
5/10

"similar to a budget airline"

(Singapore)

Verified Review | I flew Ethiopian Airlines twice so far from Toronto to Yaounde and from Singapore to Yaounde. I paid an upgrade to business class on the BKK-ADD leg and flew ADD-NSI on Y. Business class service is 3 Star and not more, food quality is so-so for business class. Champagne was served though. Flight attendant in business class are attentive. Limited choice on the onboard IFE. Cabin wasn't that clean on any of the flights. The inbound flight to BKK was coming from KUL when we boarded in BKK so it wasn't refreshed. I am quite disappointed to that Ethiopian has such a poor service for a Star Alliance company. They must do something to improve their service. Service is similar to a budget airline.
AircraftBoeing 787
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteBKK to NSI via ADD
Date FlownDecember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
9/10

"the staff were top notch"

(Nigeria)

Verified Review | Abuja to London via Addis Ababa. The first surprise was the size of Boeing 777-200LR which was used between Abuja and Addis Ababa. Plane was very spacious and neat. The staff were top notch and very nice. The trip from ADD to LHR was equally impressive. Nice plane (an A350), brilliant in-flight entertainment and crew were spot on. Only for some funny reason, the cabin was kind of hot. Would also recommend that Wifi should be introduced on their long haul flights.
AircraftBoeing 777-200LR / A350
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypePremium Economy
RouteABV to LHR via ADD
Date FlownDecember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
7/10

"new A350 plane impressive"

(South Africa)

A round trip from Cape Town to London via Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines. On the link between Addis and London was on their new A350 plane. V impressive, quiet spacious, with good space and excellent entertainment system. The other leg Cape Town to and from Addis was on the B767. Less impressive, more cramped, noiser with limited entertainment - still seat back but tiny. Service on all legs was excellent. Friendly and helpful staff with good information and announcements. Food ok - I asked for a special meal and was provided. Transit at Addis is straightforward. You can be directed right into the waiting area. If you are remember no facilities here apart from toilets and seats. It does get very crowded especially if you are in the area for gates 1-7 in the International terminal which uses buses to and from the gates. But organised in that announcements are made and there are good screens showing the information. If you are a premium customer or Star Alliance Gold but travelling economy you can use a separate area in that section - comfortable chairs, water and separate buses. Ethiopian do look after regular travellers and their premium customers. Their prices are often the cheapest between southern africa and Europe. Give them a go if on a budget but be prepared for a transit in Addis that doesn't have all the creature comforts you might want so try and keep transit times to a minimum. I have a few more trips lined up with them in the coming months and will look forward to travelling with them again.
AircraftBoeing 767 / A350
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteCPT to LHR via ADD
Date FlownNovember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
5/10

"problems started on the way back"

(Israel)

Verified Review | Round trip from Tel Aviv to Sao Paulo via Addis Ababa. The quality of the journey was way different between the flight forth and the flight back. The first, was a very nice experience highlighting a very kind onboard service and amazing aircraft (Addis Abeba - Sao Paulo by a Boeing 787). But problems started on the way back. First, the aircraft was changed without any previous notification. The original flight was supposed to be flown also by a Boeing 787 but instead aircraft was changed to an old and dirty Boeing 777-2. I received an aisle seat which was pretty broken: the control panel on the handrail was destroyed and the touch-screen did not react to tact, but it had to be controlled by the broken panel on the handrail. Besides I stand up to the bathroom in 3 occasions during the flight while in all of them the lavatories were stinky and disgusting. Unfortunately, problems did not finish there since my bag was mistreated during the journey resulting in a broken wheel and the handle which was very hard to lift. On my arrival to the Airport in Tel Aviv I approached Aerohandling counters (the company handling Ethiopian Airlines in-land services at TLV), I was attended by a very rude man, and I was denied service while I was given a letter saying that the company will not be responsible for the damage caused to my luggage. I sent several e-mails to the company complaining about this situation until they finally answered. They promised they will respond for the damage caused to my belongings also promising that I will be contacted by the company. Several days later (around 10) I'm still waiting to be contacted.
AircraftBoeing 787-8
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteTLV to GRU via ADD
Date FlownNovember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
5/10

"disappointed by Ethiopian Airlines"

(India)

Delhi to Nairobi via Addis Ababa. Horrible experience and pretty disappointed by Ethiopian Airlines. The Delhi to Addis route was just horrible. 3x3 configuration for a 7 hour flight. On top of that, no personal inflight entertainment. There was just a screen which used to come down and then go up. The funniest part was that we were served the same food on all flights and there were only 2 cabin crew in the Delhi to Addis route who didn't just care about the passengers. The toilets were dirty and the cabin was not clean as well. Addis Airport was a huge disappointment. The staff were rude and always tried to shoo the passengers from the duty free area. Just avoid Ethiopian Airlines.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteDEL to NBO via ADD
Date FlownJune 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"the worst customer service"

(Philippines)

Verified Review | Addis Ababa to Windhoek with Ethiopian Airlines. One of the worst customer service experience ever encountered. On 7th November, 14 people missed a flight from Addis Ababa to Gabone/Windhoek because there was no bus driver on the bus that we were told to board. A driver finally came 5-10 minutes later, but he had no clue where the airplane was and simply drove us in a circle around the airport before arriving back at the departure gate. It took 30 more minutes for them to admit that the plane had already left as the airline does not have policy of counting passengers in the plane. Ground staff/customer service agents also admitted to their mistake. We have booked 2 Ethiopian Airlines flights and both times this has happened. The first time we got lucky as more than 20+ people got stuck in the airport in Zanzibar for a flight from Zanzibar to Addis Ababa. This time we were not so lucky. Compensation for more than a day and a half of lost time, hotel bookings and lost meetings? Initial offer: Nothing except an economy class re-booking on a later flight about 15 hours later. Subsequent offer: After much haggling a $300 voucher or $150 cash even though we had asked what is considered a reasonable request of $200 cash. However, two things to note about the offer. First no passengers were able to get the cash in Addis Ababa as the customer service officers claimed to not have cash on hand. Second the voucher is less valuable than the cash as you must buy the tickets through the airline ticket office which is often at least $150 higher than any ticket you would buy online. The customer service also used a stalling tactic by handing us off from one officer to the next. After 9 hours of waiting an agent finally came that told us they would come back within 10 minutes so that people could receive their cash and concerns would be addressed. However, no one showed up for another few hours giving only a half hour before boarding in which they claimed that there was no cash available because they do not handle money. One last thing to note is that of the 12 passengers that were routed to Windhoek (Namibia) via Johannesburg from Addis Ababa 4 of these passengers did not board the early morning flight on Air Namibia flight that Ethiopian Airlines had said they had booked from Johannesburg to Windhoek. Upon arrival at the transit desk the officer for Air Namibia stated that the tickets were either not booked or canceled. In the end the customer service people aggravated 14 customers who likely now will try to avoid flying Ethiopian Airlines whenever possible. If a company is professional this handling of customer service issues would never make good business sense.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteADD to WDH
Date FlownNovember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
8/10

"did an excellent job"

(Ireland)

Verified Review | For us, the return flight from Dublin to Los Angeles was very good, and Ethiopian did an excellent job. Their fare was unbelievably low (seriously!), their service was good (cabin staff were all very friendly), and any delays were minor (the route starts in Addis and picks up people in Dublin, so there is usually a 30 min delay). If you are someone who is happy to fly Aer Lingus, US Airways, United, Delta, etc to the USA, then Ethiopian (on this route anyway) are well able to match them. And the Boeing 787 on the route is an added bonus! In terms of improvements they could make, the food could be better and the in-flight entertainment needs to be expanded.
AircraftBoeing 787
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteDUB to LAX
Date FlownSeptember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes