This is my first trip report. Please feel free to leave any questions and/or comments. At first, I want to apologise for the quality of my pictures as I don’t have a professional camera.
September is a wonderful month for a lucky student who passed every exam during the year. One of the major advances is the price of travelling. The fares seem to drop significantly after August. As a result, I visited the USA, the Caribbean and South East Asia during recent years. This year, my girlfriend and I decided to visit Zimbabwe. Due to the political situation we were forced to visit neighbouring countries Zambia and Botswana. Ethiopian Airlines offered some amazing fares, so we booked immediately.
On September 1st we arrived at Zaventem 3 hours before departure, by the time check in started. We were first in line, but I didn’t mind as I, being 2m tall, was able to manage emergency exit seats.
Brussels Airport was not crowded at all. Terminal B is our personal favourite (short walk, nice and clear building,..)
Ethiopian's 767-300 (reg ET-AMG) was parked at gate B01. Next to our plane was parked an Etihad A330 (reg A6-EYD) .
One hour before estimated departure time, the flight crew arrived.
I was surprised only few ‘Africans’ boarded. At first sight, the cabin didn’t look breathtaking. Legroom seemed very poor and seats didn’t feel too comfortable as well : my seat was loose which made it impossible for me to sit still. Economy class was not separated in 2 parts by some toilets, which made it look crowded.
Due to the extra legroom I obtained I felt lucky.
Some other tall persons were looking at me and I realised they just wanted to sit where I was. On my way back (ADD-BRU) I didn’t get emergency seats and I even was not able to sit the way you’re supposed to sit, two legs next to each other. Sitting in an angle, I was forced to take some of my girlfriend's legroom. During a nightflight, this is horror, believe me. I just cannot understand from my point of view how people, being 1m65, take these emergency exit seats without feeling ashamed.
Before takeoff they offered some magazines (I chose TIME).
ETD: 08.55 pm
ATD: pushback 08.57 pm, take off 09.10 pm
Load factor was only 60% as this flight would stopover in Frankfurt to pick up some more passengers.
During the short flight to FRA, FAs offered a little salty snack:
Only 39 minutes after leaving BRU, we arrived at FRA for a one and a half hour stopover. We were not allowed to leave the plane but the crew offered us newspapers. I chose the International Herald Tribune. With a load factor of 100%, we left Europe for Ethiopia.
A short time later, it was dinnertime. I opted for the chicken, my girlfriend tried the fish. Portions were small and all in all, the food was nothing to write home about. Drinks were served twice during the meal. I asked for a beer but got a Heineken instead
.
I was surprised to see some people taking a winterjacket but shortly after I realised why: it was verrrrrrry cold inside the plane.
4 hours later lights were switched on during sunrise, flying in Sudanese airspace. A breakfast was offered (together with coffee/tea). Again, portions were not generous. However, as my last intercontinental flights were on Emirates, I might have got used to different standards
.
We landed at Bole International Airport at 7.30 am.
Waiting for my flight to Lusaka (stopover in Lilongwe):
I only made a trip report of the first leg of my trip.
I hope you enjoyed it and I hope I was able to give you an idea about what it was like. I might sound very critical in this report. Maybe because it was a nightflight which I do not like, maybe because of the cold which made it impossible to sleep or feel relaxed (I was not prepared for this), maybe because I was hungry after leaving the plane,..
During the return flight it wasn’t so cold anymore and the plane was looking much better and spacier, but poor legroom (I guess 30-31") made it impossible to feel relaxed this time. I noticed most people were sleeping anyway. Cabin crew was very friendly and I appreciated the magazines offered during the flight very much, although some flight attendants were frankly rude during my ADD-LUN-ADD-flights.
If you compare service to the ticket price, Ethiopian isn’t that bad at all if you take a decent pullover with you. In my opinion, you can almost compare ET to AA.
+ Baggage allowance: 45kg
+ Fares: I paid approx 600€ for all flights.
+ Leaving from Brussels
+ Connections between African flights and intercontinental flights were very good at ADD.
+ Smiling cabin crew
+ Free beverages
- Too cold during BRU-ADD
- Portions of meals
- Legroom in economy
Last note: I was surprised to see how many Chinese were flying Ethiopian inside Africa.
Kind regards,
Maho Bay.
