Addis Ababa Airport

Customer Reviews

No Skytrax Rating
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Queuing Times 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
Customer rating from 163 reviews
3/10
No Skytrax Rating
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10/10

"Check in and immigration fine"

(United Kingdom)

Not Verified | Check in and immigration fine. Nice breakfast in London Cafe. Smooth boarding for Windhoek from A6. Return Cape Town to Addis 13/3. Arrival At Bole smooth and quick. no que at visa on arrival. Luggage fine Out quickly.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitMarch 2024
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes
2/10

"treated as cattle but pay as a king"

(Germany)

Trip Verified | While flying with Ethiopian Airlines is rather reliable and straight-forward (in mostly a little bit outdated machines), the Airport is difficult. Checking in is a joke, people do not queue up, no-one guides you, and after the first security check you're covered in dust and dirt. If you then reach the departure hall, it looks not too bad (unless your gate is downstairs) but if you decide to take a drink, your name should be Elon Musk or so. I just observed that a young father was charged 20 Dollars for heating up his baby's milk. You have to pay 10 dollars for 0.4 liters of beer and the food is a nightmare (I must know it because in May 2023 I was not allowed to enter the country and stayed 36 hours at the airport). To summarize, you are treated as cattle but you pay as a king.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitMarch 2024
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
1/10

"ne of the most chaotic airports"

(Canada)

Not Verified | This is one of the most chaotic airports I’ve ever had the experience of being in. We were a family with a child in transit to Dar Es Salaam. On departure to Dar there were several gates and hundreds of people lined up in a corridor of 6-8 feet while other passengers waking up and down the same aisle pushing and shoving as there wasn’t room. Transfer buses were so unorganized with no one giving clear directions and people were pushing and shoving to get to the bus. On our return to Toronto, the security checks were so crowded, it was a shamble, and trays for shoes, purses took forever to come, and when a few trays came everyone tried to grab them creating such chaos. We had to go through security twice and body search!. On our way to gate A16 we had to go through the body scanner. My son was holding his three year old child and the security staff attempted to grab the child so only the father would be scanned. My son put his child down and told the security staff not to touch him yet the staff tried to grab the child and seeing a stranger the child of course started crying. When I told the female staff I would report them she rudely said to me go ahead and refused to give me her name and turned her badge around so I could not see the name. Just going through this airport was not only stressful but frustrating.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitJanuary 2024
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
6/10

"less chaotic than it appears"

(Ireland)

Not Verified | Transit in the early morning. Lucky to have airbridges for arrival and departure. Distances between gates can be massive. Airport is very busy, but less chaotic than it appears at first sight. The biz security line made the experience less stressful.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitNovember 2023
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Airport Staff 12345
yes
1/10

"What a shambles"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | What a shambles this airport was for our very recent transits. The bus transfer from the incoming flight took forever and by the time we got to security the approximately ten wide column of people had to go down to one to go though security. When we got to the security screening there were no boxes to put liquids, laptops etc. into, and when someone eventually appeared with a stack of them it was a free for all as there wasn't enough to go round. Having survived security we had four hours before our connection to Dar Es Salaam. There were nowhere near enough seats and no air conditioning despite how warm it was. When the gate information came up, (C6 I think it was), we went to our departure gate to find there were two flights going from the same gate before ours, so there were hundreds of people waiting at our gate along with hundreds of others waiting for several other gates all in the same row. The electronic departure board stopped working, no staff to ask for information and another slow bus transfer out to the plane. The return experience was not much better although slightly better organised at security screening. Still not enough seats and still very hot in the main areas. When we went to our gate we had to wait to be admitted to gates A14 - 16 as again there were two flights leaving that area before ours. Seats were very difficult to get and when we finally went through to A15 we had to go through another security screening with shoes and belts off, again. When boarding started it was a free for all until a man appeared and stopped anyone who wasn't in zone 2, but as no announcement was made no-one knew it was boarding by zone number. He disappeared and a lady then appeared and held up three fingers which we assumed, correctly I'm pleased to say, that zone three could board, but again, no announcement. The one good point was no bus transfer. We hope we never have to transit through Bole again.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitSeptember 2023
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
4/10

"not enough seats"

(Sweden)

Trip Verified | Few toilets in the boarding area and not enough seats. The shops were closed in the boarding area so buying a snack was a challenge. However, staff were helpful.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitAugust 2023
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
2/10

"remove your shoes and bags checked twice"

(South Africa)

Not Verified | Why do you have to remove your shoes and bags checked twice. Whats worse is that the first check point is basically outside, must walk and stand on bare cold floors. Then this same process is repeated inside after customs. Many passengers, one person to check in.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitJuly 2023
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages N/A
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
6/10

"Staff are not very helpful"

(United Arab Emirates)

Trip Verified | Never transit here. Staff are not very helpful and don't know how to resolve the mess that they have caused. You literally have to plea your case. The only person I do want to acknowledge is Nuredin that managed to find my transit luggage after four hours of searching. Other transit staff don't know how to resolve problems.
Experience At AirportTransit
Date VisitJuly 2023
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
3/10

"A complete rethink is required"

(South Africa)

Not Verified | The airport is inefficient and arranged in a terrible manner. A complete rethink is required. Also it really doest hurt to be friendly once in a while. Please also look at your airports e-hailing sections, which is so far from the airport building, and taxi sections. The latter is ridiculously priced.
Experience At AirportArrival and Departure
Date VisitMay 2023
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
no
6/10

"Infrastructure not able to cope"

(Ethiopia)

Not Verified | Infrastructure not able to cope even in rush hours which do get a bit manic. Some staff need improved training on dealing with stressed out passengers. There is still an element of customer service missing in some instances though this occurs all over Ethiopia's tourist industry. Large space taken over by Sheba Miles as a Silver members lounge but because Sheba miles points are now so stingy and hard to earn. There are very few Silver customers and a large space is wasted. Well chair assistance is very patchy and lacks continuity.
Experience At AirportDeparture Only
Date VisitMay 2023
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Queuing Times 12345
Terminal Cleanliness 12345
Terminal Seating 12345
Terminal Signs 12345
Food Beverages 12345
Airport Shopping 12345
Wifi Connectivity 12345
Airport Staff 12345
yes