Ethiopian Airlines

Juba to Rome via Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines. Check-in is always a chaotic experience. Addis Ababa airport looks nice from outside but is a disaster inside, with outdated lounges, filthy restaurants, old shops and dirty toilets. Boeing 787s already look worn and on most planes, the touch screen IFEs do not work well. During the late evening rush hour, flights get delayed. Ethiopian Airlines does not offer a choice of meal on its Addis-Europe flights, hence you only get a hot snack on the 5.30 hour flight between Addis and Rome. How can one think of this as a medium-haul flight? Ethiopian Airlines is still very far from its competitors in terms of service quality and consistency.

Dublin to Johannesburg via Addis Ababa return. Everything about Ethiopian Airlines is just about average. Do not have any high expectations for the in flight service of food and entertainment, seats are uncomfortable, toilets are not cleaned, I noticed this on all my 4 flights throughout my trip. The planes are not clean, although the Boeing 787's are relatively new. My biggest issue was at the airport on my way home transiting through Addis Ababa. The airline would allow me to carry three duty free bottles of alcohol that I had bought onboard the plane, one I had bought in Addis Ababa and the others in Johannesburg, in an airport secure bag used for transit, I was forced to check them on with cargo and all smashed of course when I collected at the other end. The staff were rude and unhelpful and could not give an explanation as to why I could not carry these - I've travelled a lot and never had this issue. I emailed the airline to three different emails and have not received any reply at all. I will not fly with this airline again, alothough a little cheaper than others, I would sacrifice some extra money to fly an alternative route.

Return journey with Ethiopian Airlines from Joburg to Mumbai via Addis Ababa on 22nd November. Check in at Joburg was a nightmare, the staff member took more than 45 minutes to check us in. Joburg - Addis Ababa was in Boeing 777-300 ER, almost full flight, good food and IFE and drink options available on board, again we had requested for baby milk and were happy this was provided. However, despite repeated reminders to the attendant at the booking counter, this time however we were not provided with a baby cot / aisle seat. My 10 month old daughter was restless almost the whole flight and at times it became very difficult to attend her. What shocked me was they allot aisle seats to kids who are 4/5 yrs old but not for infants and that as well despite repeated reminders to the booking staff. After a 2 hour halt, had a connecting flight to Mumbai from Addis Ababa at 11 pm local time. Again a nightmare, this time in terms of the flight. How can they think of operating a Boeing 737 to Mumbai for a 5 hour flight? Completely cramped flight, no option to even move your hand, forget reclining the seats. Veg Meal was the worse that I have had with any airline. Only plus sign was again they served drinks as often as we wanted. Veg food was an insult, sweet rice and sweet chick pea curry. Attendants pleasant and helpful. Will surely not recommend Ethiopian for Addis Ababa - Mumbai route if they use the Boeing 737-800.

Flew Ethiopian Airlines from Mumbai - Cape Town via Addis Ababa and Gaborone on November 10th 2015. Check in at Mumbai was smooth. Mumbai - Addis Ababa flight was a Dreamliner, average veg food but good IFE options available. Drinks were served as and when it was asked for. We were travelling with our 10 month old daughter and had requested for an aisle seat with a cot and were provided with the same. Our request for baby food and milk was also considered. Crew were cheerful and helpful. Transit in Ethiopia was chaotic, Bole Airport is worse than a local bus terminal, make shift toilets, dirty terminals. After an hour's gap, boarded the flight to Cape Town via Gaborone, Boeing 737 can get bit uncomfortable for a 4 hour journey which included an hour's halt at Gaborone [no change of planes]. No IFE and this time the staff made a mistake with the veg food options on board. They offered the veg meal to other group members who had not booked it and hence many people had to stay hungry. They compensated for the main course (they ran out of veg rice) by offering small portions of rice and boiled veg from exec class menu. This was not liked by many travellers.

Ethiopian Airlines, Addis to Bangkok, 22/11/15. Excellent flight even in middle aged 767. Left Addis 25 mins late at 00.45. Landed in Bangkok 5 mins early at 13.10. I hate overnight flights but this was bearable. Staff fine, dinner ok. Got a 2nd dinner at 11.00 BKK time. Hugely diassapointed with SUV airport in Bangkok.

London to Durban via Addis Ababa and Johannesburg. It was spacious seats with plenty of options on the inflight entertainment. Food was pretty good. Despite delays in London having a knock on effect with all my connecting flights, both myself and my luggage made it to Durban by the correct time. Only downside some of the cabin crew appeared a bit surly. Didn't smile much and appeared bored when handing out drinks and food.

This will definitely the first and last time using Ethiopian Airlines. My partner and her son travelled from London Heathrow to Ndola in Zambia via Addis Ababa. The check in at London was excellent and the girl on the check-in could not have been more helpful. Once we boarded the flight, things went downhill fast, the cabin crew were not very helpful at all, meals were more or less thrown at you, not served. The food was terrible, the aircon onboard was very poor. During the flight, a guy collapsed while walking about and if it was not for my partner and 2 medical students tending to him, I dont like to think what the outcome would have been, the cabin crew were more concerned with chatting to each other and the medical kit onboard was a joke. The seats were hard and passenger comforts seem to have been forgotten about. After our connection in Addis Ababa you would think it was a different airline, the crew and comforts were first class and we couldn't understand why there was such a huge difference. Not looking forward to trip home.

I'm a frequent traveler between Bangkok and Cape Town (at least six times per year) and on my last trip (November 2015) I decided to use Ethiopian Airlines because their price was very competitive and it's an African airline, and I always try to support an African enterprise. This time my journey proved to be a mistake and, proved that you get what you pay for. Firstly, the planes were small and cramped - but I suppose this contributes to the low airfare. The departure lounges at Addis Ababa airport were shocking. Most of the info TVs were not working or showing other things apart from flight and departure info. The toilets were horrendous - wet floors, smelly, locks on doors broken, extremely aggressive staff, etc Thirdly and most importantly, Ethiopian Airlines does not take responsibility for your luggage. I had bought a Panasonic LED TV which I took back to Cape Town. At check in I asked for them to put on a Fragile sticker. I was told to take it to Oversize luggage and that they will put on the sticker. This I did and again I asked to for the sticker to be put on. They said they would. When changing planes at Addis Ababa my new seat was above the cargo hold of the plane and I saw them loading on my TV, without any sticker! I wasn't too concerned, as I thought they could quite easily see that it's a TV and would be careful. when I got home in Cape Town, I unpacked the TV only to find the screen had been cracked. I immediately phoned the Ethiopian Airlines call center and was told that I should send an email to Customer Relations explaining the problem. This I did, and I received an automated reply saying that they would get back to me within 10 working days - what a shocking time standard for an international company. After 12 working days I sent them a follow up email, and got a reply to say that the South African office will get in touch with me. On my return trip to Bangkok, I had still not heard from the South African office, so while I was at Cape Town International airport I tried to follow up on the matter only to be given the email address of the man in charge. Thirteen days later I had still not heard from the South African office, so again I sent an email. This time I got a rather prompt reply saying that they could not consider the claim because Ethiopian Airlines should not have accepted the TV when I checked in at Bangkok Airport, and I took too long to report the incident - even though all my correspondence (from day one) with them was attached to all emails. I'm sure I don't even need to highlight the stupidity of this kind of reasoning. Their lack of accountability and pathetic customer service leaves me more disappointed than angry. I certainly would not say don't use them. If budget is important then they're the best option, however bear in mind they you'll be dealing with a company where customer service is at an all time low and concern and care for your luggage is non existent.

Paris CDG to Johannesburg via Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines. I have mixed feelings about my flights: on the first trip, Boeing 787 airplane already looked ageing althought it cannot be old, FAs were robotic and didn't smile, food from CDG was bad and the breakfast was almost nothing (two biscuits). Return trip was better, with smiley and nice FAs on both flights, sligthly better food and better looking cabins. On the good side, seats were less cramped that I feared (and I'm tall), travel time CDG-JNB is convenient and of course price is competitive. The IFE is convenient but the choice of films and languages is limited, wine was awful and choice of alcool very limited. The FAs were sometimes rude and/or robotic. Addis Ababa airport is the worst part of the experience: awfully crowded, dirty and rather sad. Ethiopian Airlines has become a huge airline but the airport infrastructures have not followed and the result is clearly very negative.

I've flown Ethiopian within Africa on routes between several cities in Africa and flights have been pleasant. New fleet, cheerful and helpful flight attendants. This is a complete contrast to their flights into and out of the continent. Planes were very old with no inflight entertainment whatsoever. I could never get over the fact that the flight attendants are rude and unwilling to help. I'm not talking about them not smiling (I understand some cultures don't really smile). When several fellow passengers were asking for water or drinks they were ignored. One passenger was trying to call one of them, and he was ignored. When I asked if the flight was full and if it was possible for me to change seats (I was seated next to a very obnoxious passenger), the flight attendant just said "if you can find an empty seat go ahead." Besides that, it takes them way too long to serve food and get the food trays after eating. Some passengers put their trays on the floor creating a mess and it took them too long to clean it, even though they could clearly see the mess those passengers were making. And there are only three toilets in the economy class for almost 200 people. There was a queue to the lavatories the whole time. I booked my flight because they offered the fastest route to my destinations in Africa, but I've discovered it's not worth it. They're not even that much cheaper compared to other airlines! How this airline became a part of the Star Alliance is one of life's greatest mysteries.