Ethiopian Airlines ADD-GVA Review

Before the Flight :

Check-in Process: N/A in Transit

Lounge:

Information:

Boarding @ Gate:

Staff @ these points:

Boarding in Cabin:

Welcome Drinks:

Punctuality: , on time

During the Flight :

Food presentation:

Food quality:

Drinks:

Service Procedure:

Amenity Kit:

Entertainment System:

WiFi: no WiFi

Seat Quality:

Legroom:

Lavatories:

Cleanliness:

General Atmosphere:

Announcement Pilots:

Announcement Cabin:

Cabin Crew:

After the Flight :

De-Boarding:

Baggage Delivery: In Transit

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= bad, a lot of work needs to be done

=not good, you will be busy with corrections

= good & normal, nothing special

= high level, but the icing on the cake is missing

= topnotch, leave me here!

= Half a Point/sheep

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On the Ground:

Transiting in Addis Abeba would be easy but....

The security check is a real nightmare. Queues were long but this isn't the issue. Security Agents are super rude and unfriendly. They are misusing their power and xxxx passengers. 2,5 weeks we had the same problem.

This time as queues were long the agents went through the lanes and threw every passenger a plastic bin in front of his feet (and I seriously mean threw) and told them in the queue to put his things out and prepare themselves for the check.

The business class / Star Alliance lounge in Addis is new, spacious and well equipped.

This time they had a nice selection of cold and hot food items as well as a pleasant bar.

Gate Staff was present around 50 minutes prior departure. They were unmotivated and unfriendly. The flight was not indicated on the gate screen and no boarding announcement was made. As they started boarding after the indicated time they simply waved the passengers to the gate. Funny wise they conducted a priority boarding which was even checked by an agent.

Cabin crew was present in the cabin during boarding but far from pleasant or motivated.

On board, once a few passengers were on, the cabin crew distributed water bottles and amenity kits.

A welcome drink consisting of orange juice and champagne was offered.

They also came to take the order for dinner!!! At 2AM in the Morning? Dear Ethiopian Airlines Inflight product manager, are you serious? At 2AM in the morning offering dinner? There would have been the choice of beef, chicken or fish.

Most passengers complained as this is the only meal on the 6hrs 40minutes flight and most passengers actually wanted to have breakfast before landing.

More than 50% skipped dinner and went to sleep right after take off.

This Boeing 787/8 is one of the first ones which were delivered. Unfortunately the plane and cabin is super worn out and looks a little filthy.

In addition, because of the age, this aircraft has still the old business class seats which offer an angled position but not a fully lie flat bed. So sleeping was difficult and only possible on the side as I (180cm) had no space and nowhere to put my feet.

The seats are set up in a 2 / 2 / 2 and comfort wise okay to sit on. One third of the seats didn't work properly as they had no electricity. All in all the cabin was in a super poor condition.

The seats were already equipped with noise cancelling ear phones as well as a pillow and blanket.

Inflight:

After take off at 1:30 AM the crew started with their service preparations and dinner would have been served around 2AM!!!

I skipped dinner as I wanted to sleep so I am not able to tell you anything about it except as already said that at this time of day dinner is the wrong est meal you can offer.

During night the cabin crew was hardly seen in the cabin. No drink service or anything alike offered.

No breakfast service or anything alike but I was able to get a cup of tea before landing.

So basically all I got on an almost 7 hours flight is the glass of welcome champagne and a cup of tea.

The cabin crew on this flight was okay. They were not highly motivated or friendly. No interaction with passengers at all. They simply did the minimum they had to.

The in-flight entertainment was good with lots of movies, films and music. Most of them were available in many different languages. But also here the system was much older on this aircraft type.

No WiFi available on this aircraft.

All in all a flight I would not recommend. First of all a service procedure which is a disaster, super old business cabin with no lie flat seats and a crew which couldn't have cared less.

Should I rechoose Ethiopian Airlines I will definitely make sure not to fly on this Aircraft type anymore.

Notes:

- Paul the Sheep does not get any benefits from the Hotels/Airlines etc.

- Paul will always pay for the services in order to be able to rate freely and truly about the experiences.

-If you are interested in more details, please send me a private message and I will be happy to share.