The following is a review for a flight from Johannesburg to Washington, DC with a connection at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and refueling landing at Rome, Italy. The flight was provided by Ethiopian Airlines. There were two of us: me and my wife on this flight. Everything was on time. Enough legroom between the seats, I was able to stretch my legs and sleep for at least some time during the 14 hour second flight (19 hours in total for both flights). Very decent meals that included two lunches and one breakfast on the flight from Addis Ababa to Washington and one lunch on the flight from Johannesburg to Addis Ababa. The lunch choices were beef, chicken and fish, I think the vegetarian option was available as well, accompanied with beans. The breakfast was a choice between egg and pancake, accompanied with a fruit salad. The egg breakfast was awesome, it came with a scrambled egg and a sausage. However, my wife mentioned unusual taste of the pancake breakfast meal, by all means those were not pancakes. What wasn't good: Externally initiated commercials on the infosystem screens, you couldn't turn the screen off. These commercials were accompanied by loud and annoying music, transmitted through the entire cabin. Obviously, there was no escape from this music as well. Additional moment: on the flight from Addis Ababa to Washington, DC, we landed at Rome for refueling. This was totally fine and it was in the flight itinerary. But, the flight attendant asked me to straighten the seat while we were at the steady position during the refueling. I can't rationalize this order except that some people just like to be a boss of some kind. Keeping the light lit in the economy cabin while keeping it dimmed in the first class also didn't improve my and my wife's feelings. Overall, the services were very good and the flight, despite its longevity, went on very smoothly.
8,0 ExcellentVladimir A, Jun 2026JNB - ADD
Read more Ethiopian Air reviewsThe following is a review for a flight from Johannesburg to Washington, DC with a connection at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and refueling landing at Rome, Italy. The flight was provided by Ethiopian Airlines. There were two of us: me and my wife on this flight. Everything was on time. Enough legroom between the seats, I was able to stretch my legs and sleep for at least some time during the 14 hour second flight (19 hours in total for both flights). Very decent meals that included two lunches and one breakfast on the flight from Addis Ababa to Washington and one lunch on the flight from Johannesburg to Addis Ababa. The lunch choices were beef, chicken and fish, I think the vegetarian option was available as well, accompanied with beans. The breakfast was a choice between egg and pancake, accompanied with a fruit salad. The egg breakfast was awesome, it came with a scrambled egg and a sausage. However, my wife mentioned unusual taste of the pancake breakfast meal, by all means those were not pancakes. What wasn't good: Externally initiated commercials on the infosystem screens, you couldn't turn the screen off. These commercials were accompanied by loud and annoying music, transmitted through the entire cabin. Obviously, there was no escape from this music as well. Additional moment: on the flight from Addis Ababa to Washington, DC, we landed at Rome for refueling. This was totally fine and it was in the flight itinerary. But, the flight attendant asked me to straighten the seat while we were at the steady position during the refueling. I can't rationalize this order except that some people just like to be a boss of some kind. Keeping the light lit in the economy cabin while keeping it dimmed in the first class also didn't improve my and my wife's feelings. Overall, the services were very good and the flight, despite its longevity, went on very smoothly.
Everything was great, the infotainment system was glitching but this was not a big deal.
It was a good experience - too many times checking at the airport - every time had to remove shoes , belt , laptop etc. that was a bit of exaggerated. The seat had a sharp metal plate -- which torn into my jeans.
I will fly this going forward especially for ORD to EBB and the reverse.
Boarding was disorganized. Cabin crew was rude. Food was okay. Baggage was lost in Jeddah. Called airline for the past 5 days, either no response or saying the same thing as always which was "No bag has arrived. It should be here by tonight."
A bit chaotic boarding flight but over all good experience.
Planes are good. However the entertainement system is slow. The headphones are of low quality and I could hardly hear a movie The movies lack subtitiles
The plane was ok, I was in business class and was surprised there were no pods and each seat was right next to another one. That said it was comfortable and the food and coffee were good. Entertainment wise again I was surprised to see only movies and no TV shows. Check-in at Toronto Pearson was an absolute disaster, which was especially disappointing as I was a business class passenger. There was no dedicated staffing for the business counter and four (4) airlines employees assisted one economy class passenger for about 15 minutes when one could have easily assisted me. Overall room for improvement, particularly in the on-ground experience and airplane infrastructure.
The plane was old and the luggage racks above us were visibly shaking during turbulence. Water was dripping on our heads during landing. Our flight was over 2 hours late departing but we were not updated or told what to expect as the screen at the gate continued to read “on time”
Check in took over an hour because printer was not working. Attendant did not know how to give free layover Addis Ababa hotel vouchers or update frequent flyer number. After repeated attempts, got voucher emailed. However hotel wanted printed voucher hence more delay. Bus time from hotel back to airport was printed 4:50 hours, but hotel reception called at 3 pm saying bus will leave at 4 pm. Then hotel reception called again saying 4:15 pm. We rushed at 4:15 pm and bus was not ready until 4:40 pm. Many audio outlets were not working in planes.
All good, professional service, and arrived close to on time.
They lost my luggage on my way to Namibia (I was unable to review that flight as I was in the bush/off line) It took 3 days to get my bag and I had to pay $375.00 to have it transported to my location as it was over 100 Kilometers from that Airport and the local Airlink carrier would not got that far.
Flight was good but temp in the cabin was cold.
Charging for the internet in business is penny wise pound foolish. WIn €20 lose customer goodwill
Great flight, last one out the air-conditioning was far to hot and the return it was to cold and then issued blankets. On the outward bowned the headset connector didn't work properly. You had intermittent sound from the audio socket.
The space in the seat was okay, the staff were friendly, the entertainment system, my touch screen was not working and some of the films listed on the website for the flight were not available.
The check-in baggage belt was broken (which is understandable) but what was surprising is they would check you in, give a baggage tag and then you have to drag the baggage to a different counter at the end of airport. No vegetarian option in in-flight meal. British Airways remains the worst big name airlines and always my last option while booking.
The to flight was excellent but the return flight the seats seemed not cushioning enough.
Both flights Heathrow and to SFO were delayed significantly. Walking up outside steps to aircraft with suitcase was a challenge and I am a healthy 63 year old!
I had great difficulty in switching flights. The airline said it was up to Kayak and Kayak said it was up to the airline! Incredibly frustrating!!!