Ethiopian Airlines

✅ Trip Verified | Staff are always nice on Ethiopian and definitely the best part of the experience. Otherwise pretty terrible for business class. The seats were old and dirty, the entertainment system with limited selection. Food served to me was almost uniformly bad. New business class lounge in Addis Airport is overcrowded, hot and dirty. The food is also pretty unappetizing and at breakfast they had no working coffee machine. I fly this airline when I have no other choice.

✅ Trip Verified | Flight from Nairobi to Addis was okay, albeit 40 minutes late landing after having to hold due to bad weather in Addis. Took ages to disembark in Addis as they parked at a remote stand and there seemed to be a shortage of passenger buses. Transit in Addis is always a shambles. Massive queues at the security checkpoint with multiple lanes unmanned and extremely slow screening. Boarding is always chaotic at Bole Airport, especially if the aircraft is at a remote stand and you have to be taken by bus to the aircraft. Took off an hour late for Khartoum and, after an interminable wait for baggage after landing, discovered that the airline had left more than half the passenger baggage in Addis so they could carry more cargo, as evidenced by the dozens of boxes that arrived on the luggage conveyor as compared to very few suitcases. Basically sitting in Khartoum with just the clothes on my back now with absolutely no idea when/if my luggage will actually get here. I will not be flying ET again.

✅ Trip Verified | The airline staff is so incompetent and dismissive. Lacked an understanding of things and sounded like robots. I applied for a refund of a ticket I couldn’t use due to a family emergency and they didn’t refund it for more than 12 months. Then they turned around and told me that they won’t refund it before it has been more than 12 months. Their actions were criminal to me. I sent multiple emails even to their HQ to no avail.

Not Verified | Flew Ethiopian Airlines for the first time and I was absolutely satisfied with the service although Bole Intl Airport is chaotic in Addis. The onboard service and the flight attendants were amazing. From the moment you step on to the aircraft you feel at home with the generous Ethiopian hospitality the crew portrays. They kept feeding us throughout the 13hr flight to ADD and the food was delicious! All flights were pushed back on time and arrived ahead of the scheduled arrival time. I was very content and happy with this as my connection in ADD was just under 1.5hrs. However, if you are connecting through ADD then beware of the chaos at the airport due to the congestion. Expect heavy traffic at security with minimal direction from employees.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew Ethiopian from Mahe to Bangkok and back to Mahe, via Addis Ababa. This is not the first time I fly Ethiopian. Addis to Bangkok on an old 777-200LR. Used the lavatory on ground before take off, it was already dirty with a lot of paper tissues on the floor. The entertainment system was not working at my seat and my neighbour next to me. Service after take off was not friendly, only one crew had a smile on her face. One crew was not happy that she had to open a pack of passionfruit juice for me being in the last row that she overfilled the cup and handed it to me that the juice was leaking on my tray table and my neighbours. Had to ask a few times for a napkin to wipe the mess and she pretended not to hear. Finally handed the napkin without looking at me and no apology. And why is Ethiopian using plastic cutlery? On way back one of my checked bag did not arrive at my destination. I had perishables including meat products. Luggage arrived 24hrs later. Tried to file a claim for compensation but excuses given by the airline that they cannot accept the claim. Very disappointing experience. Tip: Fly with very low expectations and you will not be disappointed.

✅ Trip Verified | I had a round ticket booked from Tokyo to Seoul. My mistake was researching in time that I needed a special ETA for Korea. That's 100% my responsibility. I tried to rebook my departure flight but they only do so via the call centre. The first agent advised to book on their platform but not to proceed with payment as only the price difference to the old ticket would matter and call them again instead. hey do not send out a payment link. You're forced to give your credit card number over the phone - which is not very safe. Anyway my payment did not go through. So I had no other option than pay at the check in counter the next day. The price went up. The check in counter did communicate with customer service. Hence the price tripled in less than an hour. The person at the counter instead spent 30 minutes printing out all kind of airline policy to prove why passengers must pay XYZ fees. He could have spent this time trying to solve this issue by for example engaging with customer service and holding a price. Eventually I did not board. I cannot even recover my return flight as they are charging an additional $200 USD change fee.

✅ Trip Verified | Superb as always. We fly Ethiopian Airlines London to Addis at least twice a year. Would not dream of using another airline. Great planes, great staff. Flying time now not much over 7 hrs on A350.

✅ Trip Verified | I checked my bag at Libreville Airport (Leon Mba Airport). On arrival in Cape Town, my bag was a mess, they tampered with the lock and zip, luckily they couldn't open it. The bag looks like it was smashed against a hard surface, as the two legs were broken, beyond repair. I logged a complaint with Ethiopian Air when I landed in Cape Town on 14 December 2022. Since then I have made several enquiries regarding a replacement bag or some sort of compensation. No response whatsoever, just an acknowledgement of e-mail receipt. This is the worst airline when coming to customer care. My advise, when travelling using this airline, try not to take a large bag, that will exceed the maximum weight that you can take into the cabin. Avoid checking it in.

✅ Trip Verified | From the minute I crossed the boarding gate to now I have had a terrible experience with Ethiopian Airlines. Firstly my flight in Oman was delayed by 40 minutes, this meant when I arrived in Ethiopia I had to run to catch my connecting flight. The Addis Ababa airport is an absolute nightmare - a bottle neck of thousands and thousands of people squeezing and pushing trying to all get through security. I nearly missed my flight to Johannesburg. When I get onto the plane I realise I did not have the same seat I booked - when I went through the gate where they scan your ticket I was given a different ticket by the person at the counter but I didn't think anything of it. This person did not even bother to tell me he was moving me from a front row aisle seat to a third row middle seat. When I asked the air hostess why my seat had been moved she said they had a VIP they had to give my seat to. I felt absolutely disrespected - like I did not matter - how could they just move me to a middle back seat without even speaking to me about it? The food on the flight was terrible - I could not even eat it - I had two bites because I was so hungry but left the rest. The food was so dry and tasteless, and really just not good at all. Both of the planes also had really weird smells on them. When I landed in South Africa (after being awake for 37 hours) I stood at the carousal for over an hour waiting for my bag but it did not come out. Thanks to my airtag I could see that my bag was still in Ethiopia. I was so exhausted, dirty and so angry that I just burst into tears - the man at the EA counter did not know what to do with me. He assured me that I could go buy clothes and toiletries for $80 and I could just claim it back from Ethiopia Airlines. Although this was a huge inconvenience because I was leaving for Cape Town 2 days later, I felt better knowing they would fit the bill for the extra things I had to go buy. My bag only arrived 29 hours later and the lock on my bag was also broken. I submitted my claim two and a half months ago and have still not received my reimbursement or any feedback from them. I have sent so many emails following up on my reimbursement and I have had no response. I have also filled out an online form on their website and have sent a message to their Facebook page. I have sent hundreds of emails but they just ignore me. Their service has been utterly shocking every step of the way - this is definitely not Africa's best airline. I will never fly with them again.

✅ Trip Verified | A truly wonderful experience, from punctuality, amazing food to warm smiles. I would recommend Ethiopian airlines over and over again. I recently traveled with my wife and 2 kids from South Africa to Mumbai, on our return flight, we had a 15 hour stop over in Addis Ababa where Ethiopian Airlines offered us an accommodation voucher which booked us into their hotel for the night, this included meals and transport. I was truly impressed and touched as to how thoughtful this was. Thank you Ethiopian Airlines for accommodating us so well and for making our journey an unforgettable experience. Stay well, Fly well.