Addis Ababa Airport

✅ Trip Verified | I'll keep this short, for such a busy airline/country it is shocking how bad this is. Service level non-existent, customer service staff simply could not care less The staff inside give you conflicting directions etc.

Not Verified | I was pretty frustrated by the experience, mainly due to unhelpful staff. I arrived at 5:00 a.m. and in every waiting area there were staff sleeping. They were all under blankets, and it seems the airport should provide them appropriate rest areas instead of using areas passengers are supposed to use. After disembarking my first flight, we went through full security with x-rays and no liquids above 100ml. When my flight was announced a few hours later, I then had to go through another security checkpoint just before the flight. No one had warned us of this second repeated security so many people had to throw away the drinks bought the flight at airport prices. A lot of charging points are broken. Trying to raise issues with staff is met with apathy and disinterest.

✅ Trip Verified | ADD Bole airport is a zoo. On our outbound flight we arrived from London and passed through security and from there to the lounge and boarded the plane to VFA. On the way back having been through security at VFA and again during transit at ADD we had to go through security again near the gate. Not only that we then had a secondary screening and two lots of document checks. With three flights leaving within 30 minutes of each other having one person looking at documents of 700+ people is just bonkers. I can see why people miss flights at this airport if you're not aware of this. If you are leaving from gates A14-16 inclusive, which seems to be the only part of the airport where this happens, you need to leave a good 20-30 minutes in addition to whatever time you think you need to get to the actual gate.

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.

✅ Trip Verified | While flying with Ethiopian Airlines is rather reliable and straight-forward (in mostly a little bit outdated machines), the Airport is difficult.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.

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.

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.

✅ 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.

✅ 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.

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.