Layover at ADD airport in Ethiopia

[Mountaineer]

I’m looking at a flight on Ethiopia Airlines from Washington DC to Windhoek Namibia. It has a 11.5 hour layover in Ethiopia at ADD. Has anyone flown this route and did you stay in the airport or go to a hotel. The flight arrives at 9:30pm and departs at 8:00am the following morning. Thanks!

 

[Philip Glass]

Have you taken a look at Qatar? They are flying three times a week to WDH and have good connection times and layover options. I am hoping they ramp up to more days per week by next year when I’ll be in Namibia again.
I advise using a travel agent for these itineraries.
Philip

 

[Mountaineer]

I’m using reward miles so travel agents can’t manage those flights. United uses Ethiopian Air for most of it’s code share Namibia flights.

 

[Challer]

Lufthansa can get you there via Frankfurt from IAD. I would chose based on the better gun transfer, if you are packing

 

[mdwest]

I’m looking at a flight on Ethiopia Airlines from Washington DC to Windhoek Namibia. It has a 11.5 hour layover in Ethiopia at ADD. Has anyone flown this route and did you stay in the airport or go to a hotel. The flight arrives at 9:30pm and departs at 8:00am the following morning. Thanks!

Your options are going to be very limited... but.. the airport in Addis isnt great even for just a 3 or 4 hour layover.. and will seriously suck for 11.5.. especially overnight..

After the dinner hour most of the shops and restaurants shut down for the night, so there will be nothing at all to do after you arrive.. and they dont open again until about the time you are flying out..

Seating is less than desirable in the terminal.. its not comfortable even for a short sitting.. I dont think youre going to get much rest or sleep overnight there.. there are a handful of reclined "lounge"type chairs.. but its highly probable they will all already be taken (not nearly enough of them).. and truthfully, theyre pretty uncomfortable anyway..

Im not sure if they still do it.. but if you are both flying INTO Addis on Ethiopian Air.. and OUT of Addis on Ethiopian.. they used to pay for your transit visa so you can go into town and would also cover the cost of a hotel near the airport (any one of a handful in the immediate area around the airport) if your layover is more than 8 hours.. you might want to check into that with them..

https://beyondbabeesh.com/ethiopian-airlines-free-stopover-free-hotel-addis-ababa/

Another option is just to pay for lounge access in the airport.. the Cloud 9 Lounge is OK (dont expect the same sort of experience that you'd get in the Lufthansa lounge in Frankfurt or the BA lounge in London.. but.. its ok).. there is decent food in there as well as decent seating that you could probably catch a nap in.. and they keep the airconditioner running in there as well (the airport in Addis can get hotter than two rats fucking in a wool sock during the summer.. for some reason they cant ever seem to keep the AC regulated or working properly)..

 

[mcaustin]

I flew the Ethiopian route from IAD-ADD-WDH in February, but only had about 1.5 hours on the ground each way. I don't believe there is a ton to do in that airport, but I'm not sure about hotels/lounges given my quick turns.

I'm also a United guy, and it was good to get the miles for that trip, but we wouldn't plan to fly Ethiopian again if we have other options in the future. Our airplanes were old with fairly dingy interiors, packed completely full, and many of the passengers made huge messes and were generally disrespectful to those around them.

Ethiopian also played games, switching airplanes around constantly between booking and the flights - with the worst change being that they swapped our airplane from ADD-IAD just before we landed at ADD. They changed all of the seating - placing a 3-4 year old boy between my wife and me, and his mother a row or two behind us - and completely filled a 777 that had been scheduled with new 787 with some available seats, for the 14ish hour (with 1.5 hours on the ground to fuel in Dublin, during which we weren't allowed to get out of our seats) flight to IAD...all within an hour or so of departure. All that said, they got my rifle and me through ADD in time to depart both directions.

We were initially booked with Qatar until they dropped the routes during Covid. We'll definitely look at Qatar again in the future since they've picked the routes back up.

 

[C.W. Richter]

Cab to the Stanley Bar at the Addis Sheraton?? Go for a swim, as it's hot out! They'll serve you at the pool. They named it ADD due to the effect it has on foreign travelers with long layovers. 1st documented case was a Mtn. Nyala hunter from the US. That's just enough time to read the Koran.

 

[mdwest]

I flew the Ethiopian route from IAD-ADD-WDH in February, but only had about 1.5 hours on the ground each way. I don't believe there is a ton to do in that airport, but I'm not sure about hotels/lounges given my quick turns.

I'm also a United guy, and it was good to get the miles for that trip, but we wouldn't plan to fly Ethiopian again if we have other options in the future. Our airplanes were old with fairly dingy interiors, packed completely full, and many of the passengers made huge messes and were generally disrespectful to those around them.

Ethiopian also played games, switching airplanes around constantly between booking and the flights - with the worst change being that they swapped our airplane from ADD-IAD just before we landed at ADD. They changed all of the seating - placing a 3-4 year old boy between my wife and me, and his mother a row or two behind us - and completely filled a 777 that had been scheduled with new 787 with some available seats, for the 14ish hour (with 1.5 hours on the ground to fuel in Dublin, during which we weren't allowed to get out of our seats) flight to IAD...all within an hour or so of departure. All that said, they got my rifle and me through ADD in time to depart both directions.

We were initially booked with Qatar until they dropped the routes during Covid. We'll definitely look at Qatar again in the future since they've picked the routes back up.

Thats a real shame...

I used to fly the IAD-ADD route 3-4 times a year for about 4 years straight at one point.. From ADD I'd either go to Juba or Nairobi depending on which "work" was taking me to Africa at the time..

Back then (2011-2014/15) That was exclusively a 787 route.. and the 787 was still very new to their fleet... The biggest problem was whenever there was a "maintenance" issue, you'd end up with a pretty significant delay because they lacked the number of skilled mechanics and parts they needed to keep the birds doing what birds are supposed to do, the way they are supposed to do it.. but... at least the birds were clean, comfortable, etc.. and the most experienced and capable flight crews were all assigned to that IAD-ADD route..

Its been a few years since I've been through Addis... I was never a fan of the airport (although, I have to admit, its significantly better than many airports in Africa).. but I have always liked Addis itself (great place to spend a day or two!).. and used to actually enjoy flying Ethiopian Airlines..

 

[LivingTheDream]

They updated the lounge and it is pretty nice (July 2021). The airport is pretty small and not much to do. I would try to get a hotel with that long of a layover.

 

[C.W. Richter]

Thats a real shame...

I used to fly the IAD-ADD route 3-4 times a year for about 4 years straight at one point.. From ADD I'd either go to Juba or Nairobi depending on which "work" was taking me to Africa at the time..

Back then (2011-2014/15) That was exclusively a 787 route.. and the 787 was still very new to their fleet... The biggest problem was whenever there was a "maintenance" issue, you'd end up with a pretty significant delay because they lacked the number of skilled mechanics and parts they needed to keep the birds doing what birds are supposed to do, the way they are supposed to do it.. but... at least the birds were clean, comfortable, etc.. and the most experienced and capable flight crews were all assigned to that IAD-ADD route..

Its been a few years since I've been through Addis... I was never a fan of the airport (although, I have to admit, its significantly better than many airports in Africa).. but I have always liked Addis itself (great place to spend a day or two!).. and used to actually enjoy flying Ethiopian Airlines..

'Had the maint. issues arise several times when SAA would fly through Dakar. However, they always had a spare plane handy (Airbus or Boeing), so most times we'd walk down on the tarmac and up into the other plane, wait for our baggage to get transferred and (after an hr or 2 delay) be on our way. It was hot at first light.

 

[Mountaineer]

Lufthansa can get you there via Frankfurt from IAD. I would chose based on the better gun transfer, if you are packing

I thought you had to have guns permitted 30 days prior to traveling through Frankfurt?

 

[375Fox]

This report last week was first time I saw mention of staying in hotel in Ethiopia. The note on binoculars is interesting.

NAMIBIA: Plains Game Hunt With Aru Game Lodges

I’d like to share a review of my 10-day Namibia plains game hunt in early August, 2021, with Aru Game Lodges. This wasn’t my first trip to Namibia, but it was my first hunt in Africa. It was everything I hoped it would be. I definitely want to go back, specifically back to Aru. I’m following...

www.africahunting.com

 

[Mountaineer]

I spoke with a gentleman who overnighted and learned you are not permitted to take a camera out of the airport. So that means you can’t take your smart phone with you.

 

[mdwest]

I spoke with a gentleman who overnighted and learned you are not permitted to take a camera out of the airport. So that means you can’t take your smart phone with you.

Im not sure thats accurate, unless this is some new(er) law that has recently passed... Ive taken my iphone into Addis on numerous occasions... and I know for certain that a former colleague of mine took his iphone into Addis as recently as the last six months (he sent pics of a meeting he was attending and some of the people there)..

They have a little electronics shop in the airport that sells digital cameras.. and there must be a hundred places in Addis that you can buy smart phones and/or digital cameras.. Not letting you leave the airport with a camera seems a bit nonsensical, since you can hop in a taxi, go a couple of blocks, and just buy a camera if you want one...

That said.. I have certainly seen east african countries do nonsensical things..

I'd just recommend following up on that and finding out if it is accurate.. I think there might be a good bit more to any story about someone not being allowed a camera (if anything Ethiopia has been trying to improve its tourism industry a bit over the past decade.. telling potential tourists "sorry, no cameras" would all but kill the industry completely..)_...

 

[JimP]

If it was me I would find a lounge in the airport and relax.

If you do land at 9:30 it is likely that you won't get to a hotel until lest say 11:00. Then to be back to the airport for your 8:00 am flight you will need to get up around 6:am to get a shower and perhaps some food and that would be cutting it close for a 8:am departure.

So at most you might get a little over 5 hours sleep and cross your fingers that nothing happens in the morning for that early flight.

 

[Mountaineer]

I was able to move my planned departure date by two days and now I’m booked with only 1 hour 35 minute layover then onto Windhoek. Thanks for everyone’s input! I’ll be certain to provide a hunting report.