The largest airline in Africa, Ethiopian Airlines has an impressive network of well over 100 international destinations. The Star Alliance member serves them using a modern fleet of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, as well as Dash 8 Q400s used on shorter domestic and regional flights.

Ethiopian Airlines’ business model is to connect the world to and from Africa via its hub in Addis Ababa. The airline offers connections from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and even South America to destinations all over Africa. Due to the carrier’s “hub and spoke” business model, most of these flights are timed to offer short connections through Addis Ababa during one of the two main daily “banks” of arrivals and departures.

Ethiopian Airlines also offers a large number of fifth-freedom flights, serving routes such as Singapore-Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok-Hong Kong, São Paulo-Buenos Aires and Stockholm-Oslo.

Following a recent visit to Ethiopia, I flew with Ethiopian Airlines on the first part of my journey back to Australia. The Ethiopian Airlines flight was from Addis Ababa to Delhi. From there, I connected onwards to Singapore on Air India, and finally from Singapore to Sydney on British Airways.

I booked Business Class on the Ethiopian Airlines flight, which the carrier markets as “Cloud 9”, and had been very much looking forward to the experience.

So, what was the Ethiopian Airlines Cloud 9 service like? Find out as I review this Boeing 787 flight from Addis Ababa to Delhi!

Flight Details

Flight number	ET686
Route	Addis Ababa (ADD) to Delhi (DEL)
Aircraft type	Boeing 787-8
Class of travel	Cloud 9 (Business Class)
Seat number	3L
On-time performance	We arrived 45 minutes early
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

I redeemed Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles to book a one-way Star Alliance Award from Addis Ababa to Singapore in Business Class. The itinerary had me flying Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa to Delhi and connecting on the same ticket from Delhi to Singapore with Air India. I paid for my own ticket, which cost me 69,000 KrisFlyer miles + SGD59.10 (~AU$65) in taxes.

(I would have used KrisFlyer miles to get all the way from Ethiopia to Australia on the same award ticket, but at the time of booking, there was no award availability from Singapore to Australia around my travel date.)

If you were to buy a point-to-point Ethiopian Airlines Business Class ticket from Addis Ababa to Delhi, the standard price is around AU$4,600 return.

Many passengers on this flight would have been connecting from elsewhere in Africa, Europe, the Middle East or North America. Airfare prices vary depending on the point of origin. For example, it would cost around AU$4,300 – $300 less – for a return Business Class ticket from Dubai to Delhi via Addis Ababa.

Airport Experience

Before entering the airport terminal, all passengers had their travel documents checked and passed through a security screening checkpoint. Once inside the airport, the check-in hall was relatively quiet. I was able to use the premium check-in area at the far end of the departures hall, which was quick and easy.

Business Class passengers could also clear immigration and a second security checkpoint using a “premium” line, which was nice and quick.

I was able to access the Sheba Cloud Nine Lounge, one of several Ethiopian Airlines lounges at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. This lounge is exclusively for the use of international Star Alliance Business Class passengers.

I didn’t take any photos inside the lounge as it was busy, but found it quite nice overall. It was a fairly large space with two dining areas, a sleeping area, a media room with a TV and an Ethiopian coffee corner near the entrance serving traditional Ethiopian coffee.

There was also a bar and a large selection of hot buffet food including both Ethiopian and international options. I enjoyed some injera with traditional Ethiopian accompaniments and a glass of Rift Valley wine while waiting for my flight.

The lounge also had a massage room, toilets and showers, although the showers appeared to be roped off and I couldn’t find an obvious way to access them.

Boarding commenced on time, with priority boarding called first, and we were one of the lucky few flights to use an aerobridge for boarding.

I’ve heard plenty of mixed reports on Addis Ababa’s airport. I found it quite OK, but I understand that many passengers would be connecting from another flight so may have a different experience at this airport. While I didn’t find the airport crowded when I arrived, it did get busier when the evening bank of flights started to arrive from all over Africa. I also noticed that many other flights boarded via buses, although Ethiopian Airlines does at least provide a separate bus for Cloud 9 passengers.

The Hard Product

Ethiopian Airlines has four rows of “Cloud 9” Business Class seats on its Boeing 787-8 in a 2-2-2 layout. The seats recline to become fully lie-flat beds, but due to the layout there isn’t much privacy and the window seats don’t have direct aisle access.

The seats appeared to be Rockwell Collins Diamond seats. The same Business Class seat design is used by Air Tahiti Nui on its 787s, among other airlines.

Although Economy was completely full, I was fortunate that this wasn’t a full flight in Business Class and I had a vacant seat next to me. This gave me a bit more space to spread out.

The footwell was rather narrow, but I found the seat overall quite comfortable for both sitting and sleeping.

Each seat had a power outlet and a large personal TV screen. The in-flight entertainment featured a good selection of movies, TV shows, music and games, and I enjoyed watching a documentary about the airline’s Dash 8 Q400 operations.

In-flight wifi was available for a fee of USD5 for a 1-hour pass, USD9 for 2 hours, USD15 for 3 hours or USD25 for the whole flight. I didn’t attempt to connect.

The Soft Product

After boarding, a delightful flight attendant immediately came over to welcome me by name and introduce herself. I was then offered a hot towel and a glass of pre-departure champagne or orange juice. (I was even given a top-up of champagne while we were still on the ground!)

A pillow, blanket, noise-cancelling headphones, a bottle of water and a well-stocked amenity kit were also provided at every Business Class seat.

I had heard that Ethiopian Airlines offers traditional Ethiopian cuisine served directly from the trolley on selected flights in Cloud 9, like in the image below:

Unfortunately, that wasn’t offered on this particular flight as it was a relatively short overnight flight. Instead, a “light meal” was served after takeoff to allow passengers to maximise their sleep. The good news, though, is that the crew did indeed get through the meal service very quickly and the food was still delicious!

Catering to the majority of passengers on board, all of the main dish options were Indian. This was the menu, which was handed out before take-off:

And the next page:

The dinner service started with a salad, accompanied by another salad on the side.

Next came the main course. I chose the tandoori chicken, which I honestly would describe as restaurant-quality. The chicken was tender and had a great flavour!

After the main course, the cabin crew offered a choice of desserts directly from the trolley. I chose the Rasgulla and got a tasty cheese plate to go with it. The cheese was sliced to order from a couple of big blocks on the trolley.

Ethiopian Airlines had a wide range of drinks available as well. For anyone interested, here’s the full drinks list (click on any of the images to view a larger version):

The flight attendants were really, really good. They were friendly and attentive, while also being efficient – something that I value on an overnight flight where sleep is a priority. I also want to give the crew a special mention for keeping the Business Class toilets spotless.

The lights were switched off around an hour after departure, once most passengers had finished eating. I slept comfortably for several hours until I was woken up 45 minutes before landing by an announcement that duty-free sales would close shortly.

There was no separate breakfast service on this flight, which I didn’t mind at all as the flight time was just over five hours. I would’ve skipped breakfast in favour of more sleep anyway. That said, some passengers requested to eat later in the flight and the crew was happy to oblige.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include economics, aviation & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.