Addis Ababa Airport

Having read the previous comments wasn't sure about spending four hours at this airport. In fact it was fine - very clean a couple of restaurants/bars and a good selection of duty free shops. It can get a bit crowded when there are more than three flights due to depart but generally there are plenty of seats available especially in the area away from the shopping area. Immigration were friendly and fairly quick and the security process is what we have come to expect these days but certainly no worse than anywhere else. I have used this airport four times in the past six weeks and have no complaints - it is clean comfortable and hassle free.

Ethiopian Airlines suggested by travel agent as a value for money airline between South Africa and Thailand. And indeed the stop-over periods at Addis Ababa seemed very good. But the airport itself negates the whole experience. While the whole airport is reasonably clean the toilets and basins left a lot to be desired. Seats missing taps not working leaking basis and toilets etc. The Duty Free Shop is the only saving grace; a surprising array of goods on sale at even more surprising prices. The staff are friendly helpful and courteous. There are not enough facilities for eating and drinking for the number of passengers in transit at any one time. You have to grab a seat quickly at Addis as there aren't nearly enough chairs in the general area. Then your flight gets called about an hour and a half before you are due to leave; this is due to the most excruciating security check (transit passenger) where you virtually have to strip completely to satisfy the sensitivity of the metal detector. Naturally this takes a long time. On presenting your Boarding Pass you then have to hand over your Passport which is subject to a full immigration check - in transit? After all this rigmarole you are then summoned to the plane at once so be careful - you could get trampled on by the ensuing rugby scrum. This comes to a screeching halt halfway to the plane itself - yet another bureaucratic official is present; he reduces your Boarding Pass ticket to the size of a pinhead. And then you find someone sitting in your seat. Ethiopian Airlines were nice once airborne but that bureaucratic airport spoils the experience.

This is a brand new state of the art terminal as you land in Addis Ababa you see a beautiful building made up of a combination of large glass panels and a shiny silver structure. The airport is very much open plan and very spacious The staff at the airport are very friendly and helpful and is very convienant if you are in transit as all the flights leave from the same terminal. It does take sometime to pass through immigration but when your turn arrives you are dealt with in a very polite and curtious manner. When I visited there was a limited selection of duty free items for sale but there were some new shops preparing to open soon. The baggage delivery was rather quick and efficient. When you reach the arrivals section there is a tourist support service which can give you information about hotels and taxis to the centre of town. Another nice thing about this airport is that it is so close to the centre of town that it is only a 10 minute drive. The only thing I can say that I did not like about this airport is that I passed through it three times and never was the bank open in the departures section open to change all your unused local currency so my advice is change your money before leaving Addis funny that the bank in the arrivals section by immigration always seems to be open to buy local currency. On the whole a very impressive airport and a pleasure to use.

Addis Ababa has a shiny new beautiful terminal building. Unfortunately it has also adopted the flexible space concept similar to London Stansted which means that and area has thin cardboard dividing walls. Thus the Business lounge is a box in the middle of all the noise. In addition the facilities had not (mid may) fully opened meaning that there were no money exchange desks open prior to the evening departure of the international flights. The one thing they really need to sort out is the visa office. You have to pay a fee upon arrival which can only be paid in Ethiopian currency (which they only tell you when you finally reach the window). They then keep your passport - send you to another snail queue for the bank before returning and rejoining afresh the visa snail pace queue. All in all over 2 hrs at midnight. The bizarre thing is that dollars are accepted for the departure tax but not from the incoming visitors.