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.
The flight was very smooth, however, the quality of food was mediocre.
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.
Flight was delayed by two hours. This really messed things up because I missed my connecting flight in Addis. I had a meeting in Entebbe which was scrapped because my flight from Addis landed later in the day.
To the Ethiopian Airlines Customer Relations Team, I am writing to formally express my disappointment regarding my recent travel experience with Ethiopian Airlines on flight 629/352. Unfortunately, the level of service provided fell significantly short of the standards I expected from your airline. I would like to highlight the following serious issues encountered during the journey: • Cabin Condition and Hygiene: The aircraft cabin was notably poorly maintained. The seating area was dirty, and there was a persistent, unpleasant odor throughout the flight, which made the environment very uncomfortable for passengers. • Inadequate Service: The overall level of service provided by the staff was unsatisfactory and did not reflect a professional passenger experience. • Baggage Loss: Upon arrival, I was informed that my luggage was lost. This is particularly distressing as it has caused significant personal inconvenience and disruption to my schedule. As a frequent traveler, I value reliability and a clean cabin environment. I request that you investigate these matters immediately, provide an update on the status of my missing baggage, and outline how you intend to compensate for these failures in service. I look forward to your prompt response and a resolution to my lost luggage claim. Sincerely, Puguh
I will fly this going forward especially for ORD to EBB and the reverse.
We had a good flight experience with this airline despite reading many negative comments
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 crew was unfriendly and very rude to name a few (Helina). I felt unsafe due to most of the cabinets were open while on flight. All in all the flight was ok, but the crew needed more training on customer service most of all for international flights.
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.
gave me complimentary food as the flight was not full and was attentive to my needs
The staff were helpful with good relationships at all levels.- check in,in flight. BUT 1. The food provided was OK but inadequate supply. 2.in selecting my seat during the preboarding check in,I requested Change of seat which I did BUT without advice was charge $$ for this change!!
I was tired enough to fall asleep soon after takeoff and slept until "we are starting our descent to Toronto" announcement. That's not bad at all.
It was great to have a vegetarian meal option, but departure was delayed because they had oversold the flight. Air Canada, you’re in charge of how many tickets are sold: don’t oversell!
Boarded late then sat on the Tarmac for 90 minutes for no reason
The lead flight attendent was outstanding. We were delayed waiting for a connection and she kept us up-to-date with a great sense of humor. She also made sure a passenger in the back of the plane was sble to get out first to make a connection. She needs to be recognized by your company! She is awesome!
The plane was almost an hour delayed and then once we were on board, they said that captain didn’t have enough hours left in his day to fly us so they had to find another captain. Surely that could’ve been figured out out in advance. Incredibly frustrating because I missed my connection in Toronto, and it has a result missed the first day of my conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.
My experience was good with United too But only not so good thing was that at Calgary airport I was not given lounge access despite of flying business. Aspire lounge denied it to me, which was unfair I feel
Delayed on tarmac and missed next Air Canada flight by few minutes. Theh should have waited for me.
Terrible… Luggage’s missing for 5-days. Not expedited despite notifying them that insulin and ozempic were in bags and required refrigeration. I’m extremely disappointed. Meds were useless upon delivery as ice pack had dissolved and meds were warm and not useable because their efficacy and potency are now questionable . I’m so disappointed and expecting a full refund for the checked in bags.