Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian boasts about having the youngest fleet in Africa, this may be the true, but they use their very old planes to fly to Thailand. I have flown for the second time in one in business class, Bangkok-Addis Ababa return, and am totally disgusted. The plane is not only old (ashtray in lavatory !), but the seating is bad, narrow and not always working. There is no VOD. Overhead compartments are small. Food average, nothing to be proud of, with one of the dishes on the menu almost always missing. In contrast, the flight on a Boeing 777-300 from Addis Ababa was nice (good seat, good entertainment, same so-so food), but crew was nice in all cases.

This is my first time on Ethiopian airlines and was impressed. The Route from LAX to Dublin is new and just started in June 2015. I was hesitant when booking but the fares were extremely good. The flight attendants were wonderful and I was impressed by their professionalism and concern for the passengers needs and comfort. The food and drink was very good. The plane being a new 787 Dreamliner was immaculate and this is the fastest flight I have had to Dublin. The direct route from LAX to DUB definitely filled a void since Aer Lingus pulled out several years ago. I would recommend this airline. The prices are reasonable and the service is fantastic. The hours of this flight are a little odd leaving LAX around midnight. The Dublin flight leaves for LAX at 6.15 am. If you can deal with those hours then this airline is the way to travel. No more flying 5 plus hours to the east coast laying over for hours and then having another 7 hour journey ahead. Our flight time was a little over 9 hours to Ireland.

I boarded a flight from Jeddah to Addis Ababa connecting to Johannesburg. Due to the late arrival of the flight from Jeddah passengers connecting to Johannesburg where treated like cattle and rushed onto the connecting flight. My issued boarding pass with my pre-booked seats was changed. Our special meals was not provided or loaded on the craft. I am told that its a normal thing on Ethiopian airlines for luggage not to arrive. On arrival no luggage arrived in Johannesburg. I don't recommend this airline.

I flew my family of 8 in economy on Ethiopian Air July 2 2015, IAD-ADD-JRO and back on July 12th. 777-300 on the ADD legs and 787's on the JRO legs. I have nothing but compliments on the aircraft, cabin staff and the overall experience! Much better service on all four flights than on most domestic carriers and they were pleasant. The cabin did get a little messy on the way back but what do you expect on a 17 hour flight? I would have no hesitation taking EA again or recommending to someone.

LHR to ADD, June 8, return 30th. Excellent flight both ways. Superb planes. Helpful cabin staff. Smooth boarding at new LHR Term 2 compared to old T3. Flight time now only 7 hours. By far the best way to get to Addis. Addis airport efficient both ways. Do not like arriving at new LHR T2, massive long walks, baggage slow, not enough lifts from arrivals to public transportation. Aspects of the design of this new terminal at Heathrow are very poor.

At Nairobi airport, I was offered use of a small Kenya Airways lounge. Quite pleasant and adequate for a short wait. Boarding on time. Seats in the 737 were spacious and fairly comfortable. As there were only 5 business class passengers, I had an empty seat beside me. Food and service were good. Overall a pleasant flight. Addis Ababa airport was chaotic. A lot of people sitting around in corridors with mountains of hand luggage. The Ethiopian lounge was busy but I was able to get a seat. The seats looked good but were distinctly uncomfortable. No facilities for lying down or sleeping. Food and beverages were OK but not great. No showers and toilets not great. Wifi was available but very patchy in coverage and speed - staff were obviously aware of this as they warned me when I asked for the password. I was looking forward to the flight ADD-LHR as it was on one of Ethiopian's fairly new 787s. Boarding was fine. Business class layout was 2-2-2 but as there were few passengers, I could have an empty seats beside me. The seats were very disappointing and appeared to be an old design. They reclined to a relatively flat bed but it was angled and lumpy - not good for sleeping. Why Ethiopian would buy modern aircraft and fit them with inferior seats in their most profitable cabin is impossible to understand. Food was not good. I had beef which was tough and poorly seasoned. Other parts of the meal were similarly disappointing. In the business class cabin, there were 3 crew. One was dressed in a colourful uniform and was both pleasant and efficient. The other two were in drab outfits and had personalities to match. IFE worked OK but had a limited selection. The flight arrived on time. On arrival at LHR, my checked bag was not there. When I had checked it in at NBO, a large green tag reading "transfer at ADD" had been attached to it but, as I later found out, it had been left at Addis Ababa. Staff at the missing luggage counter at LHR were helpful and efficient but Ethiopian clearly were not. I arrived at LHR early on a Friday morning. It was not until nearly midnight on Saturday (and after numerous enquiries) that my bag was finally delivered to me in central London.

Flew to Bangkok from Nairobi and return and I certainly did not enjoy the flight back. The Boeing 767's used from Bole International to Suvarnabhumi Airport and back are very old, felt like I was on a bus. The inflight entertainment is awful, variety of shows is poor, TV screen is unclear and the seats have signs of wear and tear. My flight from BKK to Bole was delayed by 3 hours which meant I missed my connecting flight, but that was sorted out once we landed in Addis. All in all, I would not recommend for long haul flights, however short haul flights are bearable.

I flew Ethiopian Airlines as they are a part of Star Alliance. Flight from Mumbai which was scheduled at 5.30 AM took off near 7 AM. Missed my connecting flight to Accra. Was put up in Addis Ababa at a hotel with very limited menu for people who had missed connecting flights. Seems both the airline and the hotel were used to this problem, as my flight ticket for next day and hotel were already printed when I arrived at Addis Ababa. Food was just ok. Entertainment was good.

Pretty horrible flight, with plane crowded and dirty. There were already transit passengers on board (from Burundi) when we boarded and the aircraft did not appear to have been cleaned. Took off around 30 minutes late with no explanation. Crew seemed disinterested and there was no inflight entertainment. The only positive point was that the meal was reasonably tasty and there was beer and wine on offer. The condition of the toilets was disgusting even at the start of the flight. Despite having a relatively good reputation, I will try my best to avoid using this airline again.

I know many people seem to recoil when I tell them I am flying on an African airline but I would fly Ethiopian Airlines anytime over any US airline. The service is top notch, the flight attendants, professional and attentive, and very patient with some very rude passengers. I have flown Ethiopian a number of times now and have seen a progressively improving level of service. Addis airport is a very efficient HUB through Africa. The flights within Africa are not as good (still better than most) than the flights to North America. Also, the fares are very reasonable and passengers aren't nickel-and-dimed to death which is now the norm in the US flights.