Ethiopian Airlines

Addis Ababa to Manila via Bangkok, and Ethiopian Airlines are still operating old and outdated planes. To give you an idea of how old this plane was the safety video showed a Walkman (yes portable cassette player) as an example of electronic devices. Seat leg room is shorter than normal, I'd say 30-31 inches at best. Seats are uncomfortable, the cushions are not well attached and will slide around so you are almost sitting on the seat frame. In flight entertainment consisted of 5 or 6 movies playing on a loop, the screens are very small and picture quality is not good, sound is distorted. Food was poor. Flight attendants spent most of the time in the back and did not walk through with beverages after the normal meal service and did not respond to call button. On all landings (4 on this trip) people started getting up as soon as the wheels touched the ground and the flight attendants sat and watched without saying a thing. Manila to Bangkok the flight was almost empty, but Bangkok to Addis was very full. This airline owns 5 or 6 Boeing 787s which they use for shorter, lower traffic flights within Africa. They really need to start using the better planes for the longer, more crowded flights and start updating their fleet.

Mumbai to Johannesburg via Addis Ababa, and was pleasantly surprised by how well organized Ethiopian Airlines was. A standard economy class cabin, the staff service was excellent. Meals were hot, drinks cold, with alcoholic and non-alcoholic options. The food was on par with any other airline I've flown, and entertainment options were varied, great selection of audio, movie and tv options were current and classic.

On my Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur flight it was an old plane. The cabin looks like the mid 80's - no PTV/AVOD (I don't need it on an 2h flight but remember there were some pax coming from Addis Ababa with this plane), old leather seats and a dirty seatpocket. Even if the plane was so old, the FAs did there best to make this flight comfortable and were helpful and friendly. A good hot meal and two times free drinks were served on this short flight. The meal was tasty. Plane arrived 20 minutes early in KUL. Flight in Economy was very cheap compared to Thai or Malaysia Airlines. Captain gave some flight information, nothing special to remember. All in all Ethiopian Airlines is for an african carrier very good, in their modern aircraft it must be a nice experience. I flew Ethiopian Airlines several times now, and never credited my mileage automatically - for frequent flyers not ideal, and you must credit the miles manually by contacting the costumer service of the airline - Ethiopian Airlines should improve that, it should be possible for a Star Alliance Carrier.

Toronto to Lagos via Dublin return with Ethiopian Airlines. Overall the experience was good, food was good and service in flight was great. Pleased with the aircraft, low noise levels and fantastic entertainment on board. I was disappointed with the toilet facility onboard on my last leg back to Toronto via Dublin as it was malfunctioning.

Los Angeles to Dublin with Ethiopian Airlines. Free alcohol and meals were good, TV / movies were good. The plane was clean, service on flight was good. The dinner service was a bit slow as they waited for head steward to tell them to hand over tray. Also the flight was a bit cold so I used 2 blankets. Getting bags off plane in Dublin was slow but that would be Dublin ground crew. You should get to LAX early, as the TSA there seem to be the slowest of any airport in the US - slower even than Chicago. It took an hour and it was not busy in international terminal.

Round trip from Los Angeles to Dublin with Ethiopian Airlines. Check in at Los Angeles was rather chaotic, and the supervisor was not very friendly, she actually told the agent that was checking us in, that she was tired of having to show her and explain her everything. Later on she got on the plane, screaming at people and demanding to see their boarding passes. No mention of Lounge access, even though we are Star Gold. Went to the lounge with no problems. There were never any announcements that boarding had started and the screen just showed departure time, but no "boarding". The lounge agent called the gate and she was informed that they were doing last call. Onboard, the aircraft which is only 2 years old, showed its wear and tear. Ripped seat pockets, broken cup holders. Entertainment screen was not responsive. Service was ok. Flight attendants did their job, but no smiles. 2 hot meals served, but no choices. No snacks provided. Meals tasted ok, but looked more like a TV dinner. Return flight from Dublin a little better. Granted the 6am departure is a killer. Again, no mention of lounge access. When asked, we were informed that it was only for Business Class customers. Only after checking with another agent, we were given lounge invitations. Return leg, friendlier crew. Better meals with an option of chicken or ravioli and a hot breakfast, prior to arrival. This plane was in better shape. Biggest complaint is that both flights were delayed by over an hour, while sitting already on the plane. No specific reason was given. Would fly them again because the price was good.

Ethiopian Airlines has the worst Business Class experience. Old plane, with no personal TV screens, and of the two very small screens at front the plane, one was constantly flickering and the other was black and white. In addition the outlet for the headphones was not connecting properly so sounds was far from clear. Then the choice to play a subtitled Chinese movie was also an odd choice and hardly a new release, if one was able to see or hear the movie. As I went to charge my iphone was told that the power outlet at the seat was not working, then apparently there was not power at any seat. Food was unappetising. Although the staff were pleasant they were far from concerned about the lack of amenities or service in Business Class, and not able to offer any solutions, apart from more overheated food when the first dish was too terrible to consume. A definite no fly option if you want amenities and service in an airline.

I had very low expectations given how many negative reviews there are, but these were pleasantly exceeded, and I would happily fly Ethiopian Airlines again. The return trip from BKK-ADD was on an old B767, these were rather tired planes, and the business class seats were the old lounger-style - not particularly comfortable for sleeping, but still spacious. From ADD to ACC, the planes were new B787s, and were very comfortable, clean, and in excellent condition. A pity these were not offered on the longer flights to BKK. Cabin crew on all legs were excellent - very friendly, polite and professional. They all made a real effort, and seemed to enjoy what they were doing. Food was plentiful and good - a reasonable selection of dishes to choose from, as well as cheese and desserts; likewise, a good selection of alcohol was offered. I especially enjoyed the selection of Ethiopian dishes on offer, and the cabin crew were very encouraging in getting us to try them. IFE was virtually non-existent on one of the B767, and poor on the other flights, but this would be my only major complaint. Given the low price, I was very suprised at the good quality of service, food and drink - and indeed comfort on the Dreamliner. All flights were on time.

Excellent flight with Ethiopian Airlines. It's so nice to have a direct flight from Los Angeles to Dublin. I was so surprised to only see a few Irish people on board making use of this excellent connection. I hope Ireland utilizes this more so they keep the route open. My return ticket was only $750 and it leaves Los Angeles at around midnight and lands around 6pm so it really helps with jet lag so you don't need to wait around all day like a zombie before going to sleep. The cabin crew were really nice, helpful and happy to be there. The airplane is the new boeing dreamliner. It's so quiet, the air is not as dry and the entertainment system was great. Loads of good movies to watch.

Ethiopian Airlines from Nairobi to Dublin via Addis Ababa. The price is one of the cheapest, but if you don't expect too much, you will not be disappointed - they get you from A to B on time and in reasonable comfort. The food is basic, no choice - chicken in tomato with pasta, on both legs, plus a continental breakfast. The flights were only half full, which made them much more pleasant. The Boeing 787 was quite new and a lovely aircraft. The landing in Dublin was tricky, with stormy conditions, but we got in safely. Addis Ababa is not a great transit airport; think a rather scruffy provincial bus station with waves of people passing throu gh in the late evening.