Addis Ababa Airport

Awful and confusing airport but better than others in East Africa. There are two terminals and the airport authority frequently changes which departures leave from which terminal. It is not easy to get from one terminal to another - an infrequent shuttle bus is provided for this purpose. Entering Terminal 1 from Terminal 2 requires dragging your carry-on bags up a flight of stairs (no elevator provided) and the departure lounges and business class lounge in this terminal are uncomfortable even if you can find a seat. Terminal 2 is only slightly better - but the bottleneck through security is ridiculously inefficient - full of pushing and shoving and cutting in line. The departure gates in Terminal 2 are slightly better than in Terminal 1 as is the business class lounge. That being said the food at both lounges is terrible and the seating uncomfortable. Bathrooms in both business class lounges feature doors that do not close cleaning buckets left inside and unsanitary conditions.

Still the same dirty and poorly organized airport as I remember it was some years ago during my first visit. Duty free stores as much as you want but do not wake up some of the ladies working there when you fly in early in the morning and payment by credit card is a no go as 7% surcharge added to your bill. Nearly no food outlets and the few available do not look very inspiring . Long cues for security check but that I can still accept no food or drink even not water to be bought after passing security. Still using the colored sticker system that sometimes does not even seems to be of any use. If it was not for Ethiopian airlines giving your great value and service for the price they charge I would not use this airport or at least avoid it.

By far the worst airport I have encountered. There is one working toilet in-transit. The shops look like they have been there since 1930. Even during the day the airport is dark and dusty. The staff are very helpful and friendly. The food and beverages in the shops looks unappetising. With so many people going through this airport one would expect more. Heavy security but that one can tolerate considering it is for everyone's benefit.

Overflowing crowded and completely disorganized. While the tight security is a necessity the floor layout and the utter confusion inside the terminal makes this place absolutely nightmarish. This airport is way over capacity. The matter is made worse by the incompetent approach Ethiopian airlines has towards customer service. My family had confirmed ticket with seat assignment to IAD but were denied boarding due to apparent equipment change to a smaller airplane (777-300 to a 777-200). Can not wait for the day when KQ starts to fly to the US.

Addis Ababa belongs to those airports which should be avoided whenever possible: chaotic queuing unclear announcements (if any) miserable business lounge.

The ATM didn't work and the credit card machines did not connect. People everywhere complaining about delayed flights. Communication of the ground staff was very poor if at all. Our boarding were moved 3 times from boarding gate no 1 to no 5. Nobody that worked there had an idea what was going on. About 100 people was trying to sort flights with one attendant with no information. Very poor for an airline.

I was only there flying in from Johannesburg and on to my next flight to Hong Kong I found this airport to be a small provincial airport. Terminal is dirty duty free dark and badly organized cloud nine lounge small and old fashioned. No separate security control for business class passengers and if there was one business class seemed to be really large on my flight that evening. After queuing a second time after security check to receive some kind of coloured bar on your boarding pass that tells when you can board the plane just wait until the duty officer calls for boarding be careful not to be pushed aside by the mass of people running towards the stairs. Conclusions - this airport needs an urgent upgrade and be totally reorganized as this place is a real shame compared to most other intl airports I visit.

Have visited Addis Ababa Bole International Airport several times in the past few years on transit. Been very pleased with the airport as it is really pleasant and clean for a short lay-over. Plenty of duty free stores and few restaurants with reasonable pricing. Also Business class lounge has quite good variety of food and clean toilets. There is free wi-fi available throughout the airport. Definitely one of the best African hubs compared to others such as Nairobi. Would recommend this airport as a hub for anyone travelling to and from Africa.

We had a 6 hour stopover from 9pm to 3am. There is a cafe airside with a great selection of food beer soft drinks etc. I can't remember the name but it is next to the "executive lounges" (actually 2 small rooms with chairs around). There is a TV and lots of tables available with some very comfy chairs at no extra cost. There is free wi fi available the prices are reasonable and the staff could not be nicer. They allowed us to stay after the cafe closed at 12pm and even offered my 10 year old daughter a mattress to sleep on. The rest of the airport is pretty so-so toilets are ok (they work and are not overflowing). Without the cafe it would have been pretty unpleasant but it made it a very bearable stop over. We went through security both inbound and outbound with no problems and it took less time than the queue length suggested. When you go through to the gate there are no shops available so better leave this until the last minute if you can. Ethiopian airlines had everyone queue for a boarding order sticker but then used a bus to get to the plane so that was a waste of time.

I don't care much for this airport. No wifi. No washrooms in the boarding area. There are designated smoking areas but people seem to smoke everywhere. Generally the airport looks dinghy maybe this is due to the renovations. The duty free shops did not accept international cards at the time I wanted to buy and the pickings were slim in the stores. If I could avoid this airport I would.