Ethiopian Airlines- meals

[Mountaineer]

I’m getting excited about my family’s Namibia safari coming up in two weeks!! Starting to pack, guns are ready minus some reloading but I have powder and bullets so all is good. Thankfully my wife thinks of things I don’t. She asked me what meals we will eat while flying with Ethiopian Airlines. Turns out it is not on our confirmed tickets. Has anyone recently flown the Dulles to Add flight and then on to Windhoek. My group will have passengers in both economy and first class. Thanks.

 

[Proneshooter]

I flew Ethiopian back in Nov. Dulles/Addis/Harare and did not really find the food very good and this was Business class. Sorry I cannot give you much to look forward to.

 

[Probono]

I would advice you to stock up your belly before setting out to the airport and plane, Its better to be on the plane toilet unloading than sitting down hungry.

 

[Dee S]

We just flew Ethiopian over and back. I'd put Ethiopian Air below Qatar in service, quality of aircraft, and especially the food. It's edible, but there were meals we did not finish.
Between Qatar and ET, go Qatar if you can. And the layovers in Addis Ababa, not a pleasant experience. Hopefully, I will never fly ET again, but we had to as Qatar canceled our flights into and out of Botswana.

 

[AtlBGhunter]

The meals were fine but I certainly wasn’t raving about them. Chicken seemed to be the most reliable option. I brought some cliff bars and that helped when one of the meals was sub par.

 

[thriller]

I can never emphasize enough that you should always bring a snack on a plane in case you need it or the food turns out to be trash.

 

[Mort Hill]

Agree with above that food was just OK. I was in business class. Certainly wasn’t terrible, but I would say it is comparable to whatever you think airline food would taste like, as it was nothing special.

 

[Surgeon1]

just got back 2 weeks ago going food was typical airline, coming back it was better but not great! On par with Delta.

 

[mdwest]

It’s been about 5 years.. but I used to fly Dulles to Addis 4-5 times a year over the course of a 3 year period, with between a 4-6 layover in Addis each direction depending on my next connection..

The 787 that flies between IAD and Addis is a nice, comfortable bird… in flight entertainment is decent.. food is reasonable, etc.. and the flight attendants were always friendly and helpful…

But Ethiopia Air is certainly a step or two down from flying with a true premium carrier like Qatar, Emeriates, Cathay Pacific, etc..

The airport in Addis leaves quite a bit to be desired… there’s some ok curio shopping with well priced items.. but most of the shops close early and open late.. depending on your arrival and departure times, you might find little to do there on a layover..

The lounge isn’t particularly great..it’s clean and reasonably comfortable.. but don’t expect anything close to luxury..

Restaurant options are extremely limited.. on the back side of the terminal, opposite of the gates, on the far left there is a decent place to eat that serves traditional Ethiopian food, ice cold St. George beer, and piping hot traditional Ethiopian coffee.. other than that your options are pretty limited.. there’s a sandwich shop type place with a few hot options and a couple of places have snacks and sodas, but that’s it..

During peak times the airport is ridiculously crowded and there isn’t nearly enough seating.. so if you want a place to sit and see something available, grab it quickly.. and don’t get up again, or it will be gone…

Overall I enjoyed flying Ethiopia Air and doing the Addis route.. my other options were to fly into Nairobi on Kenyan Air or on United.. or to fly into Abu Dhabi on either Emeriates or United and then connect to my end destination (generally either Juba, South Sudan or Entebbe, Uganda).. and I almost alway chose Ethiopian (knowing that Emeriates was nicer)..due to the flight times and layovers being better, price usually better, and Ethiopian never actually disappointing me in any way..

Just don’t expect a super premium experience and you’ll be great… it’s certainly better than flying Aero Mexico, Taca, or some of the Western Hemisphere airlines I’ve had to over the last several years…

 

[404Jeffry]

I would advice you to stock up your belly before setting out to the airport and plane, Its better to be on the plane toilet unloading than sitting down hungry.

I think I’d rather not have to shit in airplane toilet and best advice I could give these people is bring some protein drinks and pray you can eat the food at your lodge

 

[cpr0312]

The meals are fine, what you expect for typical airline food.

 

[Philip Glass]

I always try to find the best restaurant in the airport and eat before the big flight. Many times I have skipped the airline food all together and just had a power bar.
Happy travels!

 

[Mountaineer]

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[MLindsay]

Philip and I have the right idea. I travel with a carryon full of power bars and many times just eat that while traveling.