Despite issues faced by the grounding of the 737 MAX, Ethiopian Airlines continues to be a powerhouse of African aviation, with a modern fleet, great service, and an ever-expanding network, discovers Nick Walton on a recent flight from Hong Kong to Addis Ababa.

Background

A member of Star Alliance, Ethiopian Airlines serves 125 passenger destinations from its hub at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport. The largest African carrier in terms of passengers carried, the airline offers business travellers a modern and reliable link between Africa and Asia.

Check-in/The Lounge

After selecting our seats via Ethiopian Airlines’ app, we checked in at Hong Kong International Airport and were quickly arriving at Hong Kong Airlines’ Club Bauhinia, near gate 23. The lounge, which is open to passengers in Ethiopian Airlines’ Cloud 9 business class, features a buffet of hot and cold snacks, a fully stocked bar and great views across the apron. We boarded at gate 47 (despite the boarding pass directing us to gate 43) on to a 787-10 with 24 seats in business class in a 2-2-2 configuration, of which just over half were occupied.

The Seat

You have to love the 787, with its mood lighting and oversized windows with electric blinds. We have reviewed Ethiopian Airlines on this route before; in this instance, the airline was operating one of its older Dreamliners, with an older generation business class. This means that business class seats had a 179-degree recline rather than 180-degree lie flat, which makes a good night’s sleep a little trickier, especially given the late hour departure.

However, my 22-inch seat, 2 A, was still very comfortable and featured a 15.4-inch private monitor, controlled by a remote in the armrest, AC and USB ports, and a grey and red colour palate. There’s plenty of storage, which for me is a must on long-haul flights, and bottles of water and practical little amenity kits in a bright green wash bag style were already in place. When in bed mode, the seat was perfectly comfortable, with plenty of room at shoulder level and comfortable pillows and blankets offered by the crew.

Dining

After takeoff, many passengers decided to sleep as it was midnight with an 11-hour flight ahead of us. Deciding that by delaying sleep a little while I would better handle the jetlag, I decided to have dinner while watching a movie. Crew, who served hot towels and glasses of Champagne Lallier Brut before takeoff, quickly began the dinner service, which started with pan-fried Maguro tuna with pearl barley; and a fresh seasonal salad. Choices for the main included sweet and sour chicken with capsicums and steamed rice; stir-fried beef with dried bean curd, black bean chili, and jade melon; and braised Chinese winter melon with mixed mushrooms in fish sauce, and stir-fried noodles.

The chicken was tangy and crispy and well-proportioned, with the fare served on a proper plate rather than the bento-style dishes still found in many business class cabins. For dessert, there was a choice of mignon pastries, fresh fruit, or cheese and crackers. I decided to skip dessert but did try a sip of Ethiopian honey wine, a local specialty, which was a very elegant finish to a great airline meal.

For breakfast, served 90 minutes out from Addis Ababa, we were offered a choice of mushroom egg souffle with corned beef potato rosti, chicken sausage, and cherry tomatoes; pancakes with blueberry compote; or vegetarian congee with shitake mushroom, fresh spinach, ginger, spring onion and shallots. Like many passengers, I had an onward flight and decided to get a little more sleep rather than have breakfast.

Entertainment

While it’s not quite Emirates’ ICE system or Cathay Pacific’s CX Studio, the inflight entertainment system on the Ethiopian Airlines 787 was perfectly adequate, with a broad selection of television shows and movies, and an easy-to-use interface. I opted to use my own Bose QuietComfort 35II headphones rather than the airline pair. The aircraft didn’t offer wifi.

Service

While many carriers at the top of the ranking spots are struggling with service standards, Ethiopian excelled. The crew was charming, welcoming and diligent, serving meals in a professional yet unhurried style, and checking up on passengers throughout the flight. Always quick with a smile and always happy to meet any requests, the human factor – as we have found in many other reviews – was touching and made the whole experience all the better.

Summary

With new 787s now entering the fleet, as well as new A350s; warm, authentic hospitality and cuisine inspired by the destination, Ethiopian will continue to be a warm welcome to Africa for travellers from Asia.

Hong Kong-Addis Ababa return in business class from US$3,030 per person. www.ethiopianairlines.com