On Ethiopian Airlines

I was at Bole airport for about 5 hours last Thursday morning, on the way to Gondar. We'd booked and confirmed our flights and were at the airport at 5:30am for the 6:30 flight.

It was very busy, lots of tourists on the way to different parts of the country and Ethiopians on the move as the coming Sunday was Timkat (Epiphany) - a big celebration and spectacle  in the Orthodox Church - also part of the reason we were travelling to Gondar.

 

Alas....we queued a long time and then figured out we were at the wrong desk (no signs or indications at all from Ethiopian Airlines...). By the time we made it to the right desk, it was 6:20 and we'd been bumped off the flight. After a short time, it was apparent that several other people were in similar predicaments. One man had been bumped off his Bahir Dar flight the day before and was told to show up that morning...he was still waiting to be given some concrete information (not a strong point of Ethiopian Airlines). Another man had bought two tickets to increase his chances...but he left the airport some time later, having given up. We waited about an hour (during which time a second flight to Gondar had gone) before a check-in agent finally put us on the next flight at 10:40. So it was 7:30 and we had 2 hours to fill before we could check in our baggage.

 

I know it's reminiscent of certain low-fare airlines in Europe. Not a cup of tea or coffee in sight, no offer of refreshment vouchers or transport to go home for a while....(which would be feasible in Addis, we live about 10-15 minutes from Bole by car). I know other airlines 'overbook' but overbooking by 10-15 passengers is a bit extreme, it seems to me. They routinely have 'waiting lists' for flights and you can be stuck on the waiting list while other people magically get on before you. There's no incentive for good customer service as they are the only airline operating the internal flights, a state-run monopoly. Fares are always the same though not that bad value.

It's not all bad though - this weekend was a particularly busy one because of Timkat. In ordinary times, the flexibility of being able to go on a waiting list and even pay for a flight just the day before (as I've done in the past) is great. And I’m told that they have to reduce the number of passengers sometimes depending on the weather conditions (that’s no joke – something to do with the weight on the plane and the air outside!).

 

Rant over!