Part 3: Dubai – Addis Ababa in Ethiopian Airlines Business Class
After an exhausting evening at the Dubai Mall, I took the last metro to Dubai International Airport at 10pm. With roughly two hours to go before check-in opens, I decided to kill off some time by wandering about Terminal 3 and savouring some terrible indian food at the landside food court.
Terminal 3 exterior.
Eventually as the clock passed midnight, I took the transfer shuttle over to Terminal 1. In order to access the check-in counters at T1 one was forced to pass a security check. The queues were massive, and there was no FastTrack to speak of for premium passengers.
A total of six counters were used for this flight, four for Economy, one for Business and one for Sheba Miles Silver/Gold and Star Alliance Gold. While the lines for Economy were massive, the Business counter was practically deserted. A friendly DNATA agent checked my credentials before providing me with a boarding pass, lounge invite as well as a hotel voucher for my long layover in Addis Ababa. With the check-in formalities done, I quickly cleared passport&security control before heading straight to the Lufthansa Senator Lounge.
Prior to my visit, I held some concerns whether I would be allowed to enter the lounge or not. Luckily by the time I arrived the lounge was practically deserted, and the attendant was more than happy to welcome me inside.
Overview of the main seating area.
Relaxing chairs.
With roughly four hours to go before boarding, I decided to dump my belongings at one of the relaxing chair in order to catch some sleep before the flight. Despite wearing an eyemask and Bose QC15 headphones, I found it quite hard to fall asleep. At the end, I poured myself a large Bailey’s on the rocks which acted as a great nightcap.
The F&B section of the lounge.
The food section. Ironically Emirates are responsible for the catering here.
Some Bailey’s to put me to sleep and some water to hydrate me when waking up.
I ended up getting a good two hours of sleep before the lounge attendant tapped me on the shoulder, asking me if I wanted to have some food from the buffet before closing it down. I declined her offer and went back to sleep. At 4am I left the lounge and wandered over to gate C9 for boarding.
Flight: ET601 DXB–ADD
Departure: 4.30
Arrival: 7.45
Duration: 4h 15m
Seat: 3L
At the gate another safety check was performed on all passengers before boarding was called. Passengers in Business Class were allowed to board the plane first, and once onboard I was welcomed by a friendly Ethiopian stewardess wearing the traditional white robe. Boarding was done through door 2L and with Business Class occupying only the front section of the plane, the whole process was calm and civilised.
Business Class cabin on Ethiopian’s B777-200LR.
The seats.
Seatback and stowage space.
Shortly after settling into my seat, the purser came around to offer pre-departure drinks, magazines, hot towels and amenity kits. I opted for some Champagne of the brand Jacquart Brut Mosaique, and a copy of TIME.
Some welcome Champagne and OJ.
After monitoring the flight on ExpertFlyer a few days before showed that this flight would indeed be very full. Economy was overbooked and only two seats were empty in Business Class. At the end I only spotted a single empty seat in Business Class, and by the looks of it a handful of the passengers were op-ups. It was particularly interesting to watch a sudanese lady enter the cabin, having no idea she had been upgraded to Business.
The cabin gradually filling up.
The plane pushed back roughly fifteen minutes behind schedule and soon we were on our way towards the Ethiopian capital. Many of my fellow passengers went to sleep right away, whereas I opted for the breakfast service along with a movie.
The IFE selections were fairly poor, with only 20 movies. Half of those western.
Roughly 30 minutes of the flight, the friendly stewardess came over to greet me by name before giving me the breakfast options. Choices today were either french toast or salmon and cream cheese bagel. I opted for the former which was served with fresh fruit and warm pastries.
Breakfast on ET601.
For a four hour flight in Business Class this breakfast was far from generous, and while I know the fact that the appetite isn’t at its best around 4am in the morning, I still would’ve appreciated a more substantial breakfast service closer to arrival. Nevertheless all items on the tray tasted good, but nothing out of the ordinary.
Coffee served after breakfast.
After breakfast, I put the seat in bed mode and finished watching the movie. I ended up falling asleep half ways through the movie. As for the seat itself, it’s a 170-degree angled seat. While not as comfy as those found on EgyptAir, they were still decent enough for a good sleep and I wouldn’t mind having them on a longer
flight too.
In bed with Ethiopian Airlines
Soon, arrival preparations were made and we began our descent into Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport. Upon arrival, Business Class passengers were taken to the terminal in a separate bus. I however decided to stick around until everyone had left the plane in order to ask for a souvenir from the crew.
Seat in bed mode after arrival.
Shortly after entering the terminal, I made my way over to the transfer desk to obtain further information about my layover. The agents were perhaps some of the rudest I’ve ever met. Their mindset was basically set to ”customer is always wrong”, and immediately upon inquiring about my hotel stay, I was asked why I didn’t take an earlier flight from Dubai. I calmly explained that the early flight was chosen for the sole purpose of flying the new Dreamliner. The agent still refused to grant me hotel access, and instead told me to either pay $100 for the dayroom or spend 18 hours in the lounge.
I guess it was my lack of sleep that morning, but from that moment I had pretty much had it. After a good yelling to the agent, pointing out that her way of treating me as well as the other customers was simply unacceptable, she handed me over to the supervisor. The supervisor pointed out to the agent that since my hotel voucher was already signed and stamped by the Dubai station manager, they were obliged to grant me access to the room. The supervisor then apologised for her colleagues bad behaviour, and I was soon given a visa voucher as well as instructions to the hotel.