Addis Ababa Airport

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.

Long and slow security checks to get into the airport however once through this process it was smooth. A reasonable selection of cafes/restaurants and some good souvenir shops. The toilets were ok and generally clean. There is free wifi (which worked on my initial visit but not on the return). A lot of flights left around 12-1am which meant the boarding/screening process was crowded and slow but staff managed this quite well.

I have traveled trough Bole Airport 6 times. Getting a visa on arrival can take 20-40 mins. Then there is the passport control (immigration) and usually its a nice queue there that takes another 20-40 mins. The security staff will match you bag receipt with your bag before you are allowed to proceed to customs. At customs they will screen all your bags but it normally doesn't take more than 5-10 mins. When departing from the international terminal the security queue usually go all the way out through the door and out. After that you get access to the duty free area with high prices and before you get access to the gates you must pass through another security check. After the final check there is no washrooms. The airport is usually clean with fair washrooms. Not always soap and paper and that is bad. Staff at the airport is friendly. All in all its ok airport.

I have travelled through Addis 3 times now. 100s of passengers had to wait on the runway for 10 mins until the bus arrived. In the terminal there were no screens or signs directing people to their respective connecting flights. Airport staff shouted out names of African cities and asked as many passengers as they could. Thumbs up for commitment and being helpful to lost or confused travellers. I was surprised to see my luggage arrive at my final destination but the transfer worked fine. When getting out of the airport be prepared to spend another 30 mins waiting in line to have your luggage checked and screened again. What I really dislike is the security check procedure with screening at the entrance and screening at the gate again.

At Bole International as at other Ethiopian airports one must go through security twice -- removing shoes jackets watches and other items -- and going through the X-ray machines two times as well. Bole is a modern facility; but during my five hour layover neither the escalators nor the elevators were working. Not that meant I missed much. The dining and shopping facilities were all but non-existent until I passed through security the second time and got to the departures area. There were then mostly cheap souvenir shops. Curiously smoking is banned everywhere in the airport except at food and/or drinks bars.

Had 1am departure so arrived at 10pm. Typical crush on airport entry with scanner at front door but no big deal overall. Check in smooth as we were business class and customs process smooth with priority line. Upstairs area has a lot of shops and restaurants. Entry to boarding area processed volume well.

I was also the victim of an Ethiopian Airways 757 jet fire so spent rather longer in this airport than expected. For a major transit airport it is astonishing that there is no newspaper or magazine outlet. Some of the duty free shops are rip-off joints charging a seven percent surcharge on credit cards. They are also selective in what goods can be paid for in local currency (crisps) and which cannot (chocolate - go figure). My high point was a very tasty tilapia and french fries for only US$ and the airport was kept clean by a veritable army of support staff.