Ethiopian Airlines

BAH-ADD-JNB return in Economy. Bahrain to Addis good flight on time with good service new 737 (800). Some confusion when changing in Addis with tight schedule. From Addis to JNB old 757 with little room for carry on baggage causing problems for passengers arriving on the plane last. However good on time flight with decent service. Return leg delayed again due to carry on baggage not fitting onboard. The baggage problem delayed take off causing very tight connection at Addis and no transfer of hold luggage which only arrived 24 hours later at Bahrain. One criticism is that Ethiopian would not deliver the late baggage to me and I had to return to the airport to collect it causing some inconvenience.

Addis to Lebanon and the crew were awful. Considering I was flying Business class there was little to no service and definitely not worth the price paid.

Business class from Mumbai to Addis and Addis to Harare the service is good but nothing special the hostess are friendly the check-in counter staff are courteous and food was hot and tasty. Baggage was on time so no complaints. From Harare to Addis and Addis to Mumbai the check-in staff were arrogant the inflight service was bad the food was not served on time and was cold. I was served non-veg even though I had specifically requested veg and not to forget the baggage reached me after 3 days. So the good experience in Business was ruined with that of Economy.

KGL-NBO-ADD-BKK B737/B767-300. Departure from Kigali rescheduled and delayed one hour on which I was not informed despite being registered in all systems. Suddenly included a most unnecessary stop in Nairobi making a saving as they combine 2 flights to one with the discomfort of far boarding passengers. Business Lounge in Kigali a joke - given a budget by Ethiopian of 10 USD to purchase food and drinks. As food alone costs 10 USD all drinks are on one’s own. First time in life I have experienced such limit. Addis to BKK on time. Special meal ordered was not acknowledged but happened by chance to make a good match with days menu (2 options). Wines very sparse basically only 1 option of each red white and champagne which is on the lower side on business class. Lounge in Addis T2 acceptable with pro and cons. Food good plenty conservative. No cheese were offered. Entertainment provided no choice. Staff friendly willing to learn and proactive.

ADD-GDQ-ADD. Seating one class 2x2. Vegetarian sandwiches close to inedible. Decent selection of non-alcoholic drinks. Both flights on-time. Friendly attentive service given the short one-hour flight time.

IAD-ADD-IAD business class on B777. Comfortable seats angled lie-flat. Friendly attentive service. Excellent meals and snacks good selection of drinks. Non-stop IAD-ADD on the return a one hour layover at FCO. Only seven 7 out of 34 seats occupied IAD-ADD and only ten occupied ADD-IAD.

BKK-ADD-KGL B67-300 and B737. BKK departure on time. Departure from Addis 3 hours delayed due to mechanical error” (change of aircraft). New terminal 1 in Addis starts now to operate all regional flights but is far from geared to it yet. It is under construction no internet Tax Free of 12 sq m size. Airport monitors misleading as they just report everything to schedule and oppress or hide delays pretending that all departures are on time. Same route also delayed the following day by 1 hr 30 mins. Lounge in Addis acceptable with pro and cons. Onboard : a solid old fashioned business class concept like for the same airline 15 years ago. Seat very limited recline no personal IFE but does not make much difference as there is hardly any IFE anyway. Wines not up to standard and not those on printed on winecard. Food good and plenty. Choice of beers and cheese good with a variety of excellent Ethiopian products. Entertainment provided no choices. Staff friendly very neat service-minded proactive.

DEL-PEK-DEL Business Class. Outbound check-in surprised to find that there was no dedicated check-in for business class. Boarding was swift and departure on time. Boeing 757-300 was not appropriate for 7 hour flight to Beijing. The product was outdated with old recliner style seats arranged 2x2 with decent legroom and was clean and well-mantained considering the age. IFE from mainscreen was poor and a problem on a day-time flight. Two meals were offered - hot canapes inedible and out of place even in economy class. FAs attentive and professional. A few hours later lunch was served which was much better with generous portions and good quality. Arrival in Beijing was without any hassles. Beijing-Delhi check-in was a mess in spite of a dedicated business class counter - unfriendly and inept staff. The whole process took over twenty minutes. Old Boeing 767 with the same seats but PTV's - IFE choice was limited with 3 movies running on loops. Hardly inspiring considering AVOD being a norm now even on many regional carriers. The dinner was of a high standard. The real issues came when I landed in Delhi. In spite of a new terminal Ethiopian had no clear signage as to where the bags were being delivered. Subsequently upon finding the correct conveyer belt I discovered my priority tagged luggage had not been off-loaded with the conveyer belt showing bags delivered for the flight. The same was with another passenger on the flight. Ethopian Airlines staff could not be found and when we finally found one we came across one of the most unhelpful and petulent staff I have come across. The person was firstly dismissive stating bags would come in later until we had to show him the screen on the conveyer belt. Finally he picked up his cell phone and dialled someone asking for two black bags. No attempt was made to check on the baggage ticket numbers. Finally we waited another ten minutes until he stated that it was time for him to go home and the bags would be delivered. We had to involve the customer service desk at Delhi airport who were helpful and ensured that we were attended to. Planes old punctuality good and inflight service excellent but the outdated product poor ground handling at Beijing and Delhi are major negatives.

Bahir Dar to Addis Addis to Lalibela return and Addis to London pleased with the service. They gave a lunch on domestic flights - better than in Canada. My complaint would be the lack of an individual TV screen on Addis-London flight but I rarely use the IFE.

One of the worst long distance flight experiences I have had. IAD to Addis Ababa return with an additional 3 Ethiopian domestic leg. Not one flight left on time with absolutely no explanation from Ethiopian. Return flight from Addis to Washington DC left 3 hours late which resulted in missing my connections. I was advised that someone from Ethiopian would be available upon arrival to rebook my continuing flight. Not only was no one there it took another 3 hours to finally get some help from them and then they were so slow I missed the connection they booked me on. 4 people inside the Ethiopian office and 3 of the 4 doing nothing except talking on their personal cell phones. Inflight experience wasn't much better. My TV monitor had no sound the monitor in the empty seat next to me didn't work at all and I left my flight attendant light on for 4 hours and not one attendant ever responded to it. The only positive comment I have is their 777 coach class was comfortable.