Review Ethiopian Airlines, Johannesburg - Addis Abeba Business Class
General Impression: 
Before the Flight :
Check-in Process:
Security Control :
Lounge:
Information:
Boarding @ Gate:
Staff @ these points:
Boarding in Cabin:
Welcome Drinks:
Punctuality: , on time
, on time
During the Flight :
Food presentation:
Food quality:
Drinks:
Service Procedure:
Amenity Kit:
IFE System:
Seat Quality:
Legroom:
Lavatories:
Cleanliness:
General Atmosphere:
Announcement Pilots:
Announcement Cabin:
Cabin Crew:
After the Flight :
De-Boarding:
Baggage Delivery: in transit
—-
= bad, a lot of work needs to be done
= poor, 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
—-
On the Ground:
Ethiopian Airlines check-in opened also in Johannesburg 4 hours prior departure. That was awesome as we were able to check-in right after our arrival from Durban.
The check-in itself was pure chaos in Johannesburg. Counters were not really assigned and everything was mixed up. Queues builded up quite fast and there were waiting times at all counters
and lines.
The agent itself, she was super friendly and helpful. She was chatting with us through the entire process.
Unfortunately Johannesburg O. R. Tambo has no priority security lane at international departure.
There was a single security screening line open and there was a long queue.
It took us around 15-20 minutes to get through security. Staff was okay.
After security there was only a short queue at emigration and we were able to get through quite quickly.
Ethiopian Airlines has contracted the Shongololo Lounge in Johannesburg. The Lounge is okay and has enough seating availabilities. It is divided in many different areas.
The lounge offers a drink (alcoholic and non alcoholic) station and a coffee station. The buffet was divided in a hot dish area, a cold area with the biggest sandwich selection I have ever
seen as well as salads and a mixed food buffet with different snacks and items.
Indicated boarding time was 45 minutes prior departure and boarding started exactly 45 minutes prior departure but...
Only into the jetbridge. We had to stand in the jetbridge for another 10 minutes until we were let on board the aircraft.
Boarding announcements were made and Priority boarding was conducted according procedures.
Staff at the gate was just doing their job but otherwise nothing special.
At the aircraft door we were greeted by a cabin crew member.
The crew was very friendly at the door and was present in the cabin whilst boarding. The interaction of the crew was on a minimum and they only did what they had to do.
Very soon after boarding they started to distribute hot towels and once everyone on. Business was boarded, they offered the welcome drink, consisting of orange juice and champagne.
The seats were already equipped with headphones and water bottles and the crew passed with the menu cards after the welce drink.
On every seat there was also a fluffy pillow and a blanket. The crew distributed the amenity kits from a basket.
Inflight:
The business class on this Ethiopian Airlines Airbus A350 is a very nice and solid business class product. The Airbus A350 has a total of 30 business class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration in
one section between door 1 and 2. This is the old style of Business Class on Ethiopians A350. Newer Aircrafts have a newer business class. If everything goes as planned, our next flight
should have the new business.
The seats are comfortable and offer enough private space.
All business class seats are fully lie flat and you have enough shoulder space as well as legroom space.
The seat worked perfectly fine on this flight.
Before I start with the service review, a spoiler alert.
The service took forever and the crew had no idea what they did. Comparing the two aisles, they did two completely different things, trollies were set up differently and the crew was no team
at all. The service was
chewy worse than a chewing gum.
After take off the cabin crew performed an aperitif service with two different snacks. For almost every drink on our side the flight attendant had to run back to the galley to get something.
After the aperitif the tables were set up with a table cloth and the crew started with the main service.
The main service on this flight was a lunch service without tray.
The crew first distributed the starter and the salad as well as bread, butter, salt & pepper and the salad sauce. The flight attendant on our aile just poured a glass of still water and that
was about it. She also had nothing different on her trolley. You had to ask for a glass of wine and for every passenger she had to run back to the galley to get the drinks. It took forever!
Then the main course was served. As the crew did not take the orders beforehand, they had to run to the galley for every passenger to get his meal. You could choose from 3 different hot meals.
Refill of drinks... Negative.
Then everything was cleared up and the dessert, cheese and fruits were offered. After that was through, they passed with tea and coffee as well as digestives.
The service as said was super chaotic and completely different on both aisles.
The quality of food as well as the presentation was not really good. It looked and tasted super cheap. Not really a dining experience and compared to our last flight this was simply crap.
The cabin crew on this flight was simply present. To us it seemed they did not really work together.
Sometimes it seemed they had no idea what they did and everything took forever.
No interaction with the passengers and no smiles. Robots just doing their job and on this flight also with a low low performance.
Bathrooms were checked throughout the flight and always refilled. They were always clean.
The inflight entertainment system worked well. The screens are huge in size and worked perfectly fine. They had a good resolution and the touch screens worked well as well as the handheld
devices to navigate.
The selection of movies, films and series was good.
The aircraft was equipped with WiFi and we were given a free code to be used during the entire flight. Internet worked well and you were also able to watch films and YouTube.
If you would have to buy Internet on board, the prices are rather hefty. 25$ for the entire flight, 10$ for 2 hours or 5$ for 1 hour.
Announcements on this flight were okay from the flight deck as well as the cabin crew.
We arrived on an open parking position in Addis. The good thing is that Ethiopian Airlines has special business class Busses bringing you to the terminal.
As we will be in transit in Addis Abeba we can not comment on baggage delivery.
Our summary:
A solid and good business class hard product such as the seats and IFE on the Airbus A350.
Inflight catering on this flight was rather bad in quality and presentation.
The crew was present but that was about it. No smiles and no interaction with passengers. To us it seemed they had no idea of the product and just did some kind of service. Both aisles had
different services.
Would we have to rate solely on this flight and on this experience, we would think twice to rechoose Ethiopian Airlines or their price has to be such a bummer that you accept the low inflight
service.
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