Goaguy

According to a post just now from Copenhagen Airport on their Facebook page, ET will start flying to CPH starting 22 May. This will be done 5 times weekly on B787 with a "short stopover in Vienna".

I was personally just waiting for this to happen, however I could have done without the VIE stop. But great news overall!

Jetboi

Then their 714/715 ADD-ARN-OSL-ARN-ADD must do really, really well? Also, I wonder if they will reroute the existing ADD-VIE-BRU-VIE-ADD, or just have another VIE stop.

I understand this is great for you @Goaguy, but if it makes them ditch OSL, it's not that great for me On the other hand, good excuse to go via FRA and have a nice lounge experience for once. And yes, those stops are actually quite inconvenient, especially in Y.

Goaguy

I doubt it would affect OSL.
Considering how many people actually fly from CPH to Addis, this makes a lot of sense. But perhaps it is more difficult and expense to get a CPH slot than OSL/ARN?
I recall about 3-4 years ago I passed a large wall-poster in CPH airport where it listed which non-direct routes departing from CPH had the most travellers. YVR and ADD were some of the highest on the list. I think the main reason ET picked OSL and ARN over CPH is because there are such good connections between CPH and FRA/ARN and there is a very large Ethiopian community especially in Sweden. But since CPH serves all southern Sweden this was a logical move that were bound to happen. I have been flying one too many times to ARN from CPH just to fly back to ADD, in the opposite direction.

Goaguy

Also, I believe LH stopped flying to ADD, which probably means more business for ET from Scandinavia now?
Besides covid-slowdown, all foreign airliners operating to Ethiopia are struggling to repatriate funds as there is a massive foreign currency shortage in ET. Same reason why EK stopped flying to Nigeria recently.
Foreign airlines based in Ethiopia must accept payment in Ethiopian Birr for trips originating from Ethiopia which leaves them with massive amounts of local currency stuck in local banks, subject to high inflation rates.

Jetboi

Well, it's not just expats, it's obviously pretty much anyone that wants to go from the nordics to africa, of course. CPH has quite a catchment area, so let's hope there's sufficient traffic to keep both routes prospering and alive. Hopefully, it will lower prices and up biz award a little as there are more seats.

With regards to the stops in ARN (and VIE), it's quite a drag. I would personally rather go through FRA as mentioned. A stop is a stop, I'd rather enjoy mine on the airport and in a proper lounge, not on a busy aircraft. I'm travelling all day anyway, so one or two hours saved means nothing. Also, on the return, those stops are very early, so mess up your sleep opportunity. Maybe it's better in C; I haven't flown ET C yet as I always travel with family, and even the relatively inexpensive upgrade becomes pretty expensive. I've generally seen around 350 USD from OSL and 450 to OSL as minimum bids.

tennisboy

What's the lounge Ethiopian uses at CPH for Cloud 9 or Star alliance gold passengers?

SK AAR

SAS lounge?

Data point for CPH-VIE-ADD recently (in Feb).
Only airline to offer a reasonable fare on DKK 5200 (USD 750) for CPH-CPT return on short notice (booked around 10 days out).

ET725 CPH-ADD: Flight had many unoccupied seats in Y = had a row of 3 seats to myself. Good experience. Decent food served. Excellent wine. Min bid for upgrade to Cloud 9 was from around 540 USD.
ET724 ADD-CPH. Flight full to VIE. Many deboarded at VIE. I didn't check upgrade prices as I hoped for a row of 3 seats (which didn't happen; only for VIE-CPH).
The technical stop in VIE was not the end of the world/acceptable.

OT: Outbound I had 40min transfer at ADD. All pax bound for CPT (around 20-25) were picked up by ground staff from the tarmac (aircraft from CPH arrived at remote stand) and driven directly to the aircraft to CPT, so boarded without even entering the terminal at ADD. Very efficient!

fifty_two

Its a part of ET strategy ; catch two birds with one stone ; most of their flights to europe operates this way , no need to send another plane to same city twice unless traffic requires it

In FRA , unless things changed and based on last testimony i got you wont have access to LH lounges if you fly ET , but check the ET app to be sure before booking