After a behind-the-scenes tour of the Addis Ababa hub of Ethiopian Airlines, I am flying out of Addis in the morning to Cape Town onboard Ethiopian Airlines A350.
Video
Addis Ababa Airport
The airport has a typical setup in Africa, only ticket holders are allowed to go inside the terminal. There is baggage screening outside the terminal at the entrance.
Once inside, there is separate check-in counter for Business Class and Star Alliance Gold.
There are 2 peaks every day, one in the morning and one in the evening with many arrivals and departures from the world connecting at Addis Ababa.
After check-in and security, I proceed to the Ethiopian Airlines Business Class lounge.
Ethiopian Airlines Cloud Nine Lounge
The lounge has a max capacity of 600 Business Class passengers. There are separate lounges for Star Alliance Gold and Silver passengers. In the morning peak, the lounge is very busy. These photos were taken after the peak wave of passengers. You can see the crowd during peak hour in my video here.
Overall, the lounge is decent, with plenty of food on offer. It is an improvement over the older lounge ET has. It has just one problem; during the peak departures, it is very crowded. The rear of the lounge near the buffet is the most crowded area. My recommendation is to find a seat somewhere near the front of the lounge.
ET847 Addis Ababa to Cape Town
The Cape Town flight is the first to depart from the hub as it is a long flight across the African continent with over 6 hours of flying time. It is operated by a 1-year-old A350-900 with Star Alliance livery.
Unlike the B787 I flew from Vienna to Addis, the new A350 has a new Business Class in a 1-2-1 staggered layout. There is a total of 32 seats in Business Class.
The window seat has the best privacy. Row 1 seems have better leg room as the footwell box is bigger.
Addis Ababa Airport Hub
There are 2 peaks every day, one in the morning and one in the evening with many arrivals and departures from the world connecting at Addis Ababa.
We departed runway 07R and made a Southbound turn. The altitude at Addis Ababa is 7,625 ft so this restricted the A350 takeoff weight.
The pilot mentioned the maximum takeoff weight is 251 tons on the A350 instead of the 280 tons MTOW.
Flight time to Cape Town is 6 hours from Addis Ababa, flying through Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana before reaching South Africa.
Cabin service starts with just drinks. Instead of serving a meal immediately after takeoff, the meal is served 2 hours before landing. I presume this is because most passengers are from transit and ate breakfast in the lounge or on their previous flight.
I much prefer the A350 1-2-1 business class with aisle access. However, I noticed while the window seat is private, the aisle seat can have a different experience due to the aisle traffic. The new Ethiopian Airlines Business Class seat resembles United Polaris Business Class.
The landing was uneventful in Cape Town. The flight was on-time. Ethiopian Airlines came a long way since my first time flying them in 2012. Since then, their fleet has almost tripled and the soft product offering in Business Class has improved. The biggest advantage Ethiopian Airlines has over its rival is its vast and strong network in Africa. With its high rate of growth, the airline needs to maintain more consistency in product offering.
About my Ethiopian Flight
Pros:
- Improved dining service and quality of food.
- Extensive network and good connectivity.
- Good award seat availability when compared with other carriers.
Cons:
- The 2-2-2 Business Class seating on B787 is underwhelming. The older 777 fleet has 2-3-2 angle flat Business Class seats. New. delivered A350 has better 1-2-1 individual aisle access seating. The airline is focused on building the fleet and network but with inconsistent hard products.
Dear
Greatful to hear more on Businesses Classic so intersting additionally
From Ethiopian addis Ababba International airport to London Businesses A350
Price one way its how much in US Dollar………..?
Let me knows soon as possible?
How do I know which business class to book for the best window seat on flight ET 553 from Toronto to Addis Ababa when Seatguru.com shows a 2-2-2 configuration for only 5 rows and your seat in the review is a pod in what looks like seat 6L? Will it show the proper seat map when actually doing the booking?
You will know from seat map selection if the seat is 1-2-1 or 2-2-2 config. ET do have more A350 in 2-2-2.
I’m confused….
You say the flight was 1-2-1 but the seat plan shows 2-2-2 and the photos seem to show the latter layout as well…
There are 2 versions. The one on seatmaps.com are older version with 2-2-2.
I need to experiance such amazing services with my family, but i know the price is badly expensive.
I believe that, one day i will be there with my family to test those extraordinary facilities, in our flag flyer Airplane and with the high level of hospitalities.
My experience of the Business lounge in Addis Ababa is not an excellent memory. Crowdy, not clean, noisy with an flight announce every five minutes. The flight crews where perfect even if the product is old now with a 2-2-2 business class. The most enjoyable was my stay in the Ethiopian Airlines Hotel for the long connection. Free of charge, you had free meals, free 5* room, pool and other services, at only 400m from the airport.
As Turkish Airlines make for passengers who make a stop, Ehtiopian offers good services.
I always enjoy reading your reviews. Nice job on the local attire for the flight also!