safari_7

Hello,

Will have to travel for work end of March to Addis. Quick question - is the baggage claim, immigration/customs clearance etc etc., quick or is it a mixed bag with delays?

Also, online it says the distance from Bole airport to the Radisson Blu hotel is only 6kms. So, i trust should be quick?

Thanks

dvs7310

Immigration unfortunately can take a bit or it can be a total breeze through, you won't know until you get there (though when I say it can take a while I mean 15-20 minutes, not nearly as bad as some other places in the world). Generally baggage claim is fairly quick, even better with priority tagged bags. Customs is right beside it with a couple officers, I don't recall them ever doing a scan of my bags but have seen them scan others. Shouldn't take more than a minute or two unless you have something they want to inspect inside.

The top hotels aren't too far from the airport (as you noted, "only 6km" but depends on how you hit traffic. Late night and early morning aren't an issue, but mid-day can take some time. I've never used the Radisson Blu shuttle, so not sure how often they run. Hilton unfortunately doesn't run a high enough frequency in my opinion. My best pickups and returns have actually been the no-name hotels, some of which had an on-demand service rather than a set schedule.

B747-437B

Good timing with this question. I literally just got home from a stay at the Radisson Blu in Addis last night.

Arrived on Monday afternoon at 1415 - immigration and formalities took about 10 minutes and then a 15 minute wait for the shuttle bus (they have a booth just after customs in the arrivals area where you can wait - there is an attendant who will assist with luggage, cold water, etc...). Drive to the hotel took 27 minutes, but traffic was a bit heavy around Meskel Square which was where we spent most of the time crawling. This morning, departed the hotel at 0800 and got to the airport at 0824. The airport shuttle runs every hour on the hour from the hotel so plan accordingly.

SanDiego1K

Here is an informative thread on the airport.

ADD / Addis Ababa Bole International Airport - Connections, Facilities, Layovers

Dan72

I don't wait for the shuttles. Airport taxi rates are set and reasonable. To the Hilton it is 300 birr/ETB less than 10USD, and to the Radisson a little less at 250. There are cash machines in the arrival hall that will issue you 100 birr notes. There is a fast track immigration channel for *G, but you will likely end up waiting for your bag.

safari_7

Thanks a lot for all the replies. Much appreciated!