The Milelionโs RTW Trip 2018: Trip Planning
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge T3 SIN
SWISS Intl Airlines B77W Business Class SIN-ZRH
Cosmo Hotel Berlin
Westin Grand Berlin
The Intra-Europe Business Class Experience, 2018 Edition
Turkish Airlines A330 Business Class IST-AMM
Sheraton Amman Al Nabil
Royal Jordanian Crown Lounge AMM
Egypt Air B737 Business Class AMM-CAI-NBO
Tribe Hotel Nairobi
Sheraton Kampala
Ethiopian Airlines B737 Business Class NBO-ADD
Ethiopian Airlines B787 Business Class ADD-GRU
Marriott Sao Paulo Airport
Avianca Brasil A330 Business Class GRU-SCL
San Cristobal Tower Santiago
Air Canada B77W Business Class SCL-YYZ
Air Canada Express E175 Business Class YYZ-BOS
W Boston
United Airlines B757 First Class BOS-SFO
W San Francisco
United Airlines B77W Polaris Business Class SFO-NRT
ANA B787 Business Class NRT-SIN
If you recall last yearโs RTW trip report, youโll remember that Iโd reviewed ETโs B787 Dreamliner product before. Why review it again? Because ET has two types of Dreamliners. As per this FT thread, of the 19 787-8s that Ethiopian operates, some aircraft have angled flat seats and others the full flat B/E Aerospace Diamond ones.
Unfortunately, this time round I got an aircraft with the angled flat seats. Iโm really puzzled as to why Ethiopian would chose to operate an aircraft with the inferior version of their business class product on a long haul route, but then again Iโve never pretended to understand the intricacies behind route planning.
Itโs funny because the seats donโt, on first glance, look like angled flat seats. In fact, they look very similar to the seats on Air Indiaโs Dreamliners, which other reviewers claim go full flat. So Iโm confused here. I felt pretty certain my seat wasnโt full flat for what itโs worth. Maybe Iโll bring my spirit level next time round.
2-2-2 is no oneโs favourite business class configuration, but as I mentioned in my previous post this is pretty much the best youโll get when flying out of Africa. Yes, if youโre lucky you might get one of SAAโs new A330s, but those are the exception rather than the rule .
Thereโs a good amount of legroom for each seat, but youโre still going to have to hop over your prone neighbour to access the aisle if youโre on the window side.
Seat controls are in the centre divider- I guess I should have known something was up when I saw the โflat bedโ button didnโt show the bed at parallel to the ground. At least theyโre honest!
The IFE remote is decidedly last gen, and even has a joystick on the reverse side. Many airlines have opted to go for flat D-pads because the protruding nature of a joystick means itโs vulnerable to breaking. I canโt remember the last time I played a game on a plane. Probably back in the good old days of Super Mario World on SQโs old aircraft. I do wonder why, with all the processing power we now have, IFE systems canโt have PS4 quality games. Itโs worth thinking about.
Ethiopian Airlines B787 IFE controller
Accompanying the controller was a pair of regular headphones. No noise cancelling doodads here.
The tray table is large and solid.
I received an Ethiopian Airlines amenities kit the last time I flew long haul with them and the only thing thatโs changed since then is the color. This version came in a lime green, but the contents were exactly the same (eye shades, lip balm, toothbrush kit, earplugs, comb, socks, pen and toothpick).
Also waiting at the seat was a large, plastic-wrapped blanket with a clear โdonโt steal me messageโ. At least it wasnโt scratchy.
Rounding off the seat is the large IFE screen infront of you, plus a storage nook for water bottles and headphones.
Before take off, the crew pre-emptively distributed bottles of water to every passenger. They also broke out the bubbly, the same Lallier that was available on the intra Africa route.
The captain came on the PA to welcome us on board and inform us of the very long 11h 40 minute flight time to Sao Paulo. On hearing this, my seatmate groaned aloud. Settle down lady, itโs much worse at the back of the busโฆ
Lunch was served shortly after takeoff, with the following options-
Iโm going to go on the record and say that Ethiopian has no idea how to plate stuff. Each of the items served looked as unappetizing as can be, and the taste wasnโt much better.
The appetizer was some tuna that looked really lonely on the plate and a salad with no dressing. I imagine if you combined the salad with the tuna the dish would look better, but as it was the whole thing looked really sad.
The main was equally unattractive looking. The fish was nuked to death and the greens were mushy.
The less said about dessert the better.
I checked out the bathrooms after the meal (people keep complaining that my trip report sequences are all the same, to which I say- itโs probably a better idea to step into the airline bathroom after your meal than before). I donโt think Ethiopian really splurged on any of the options for the Dreamliner- no auto flushing loo (either that or the sensor wasnโt working), no auto opening bin either.
The toiletries on offer werenโt exactly top tier. Ugo Vanelli and Delux Air, anyone?
Ethiopianโs IFE selection isnโt the biggest out there, but it at least provided some distraction during the long flight.
Ethiopian Airlines B787 Business Class IFE SelectionI was so tired after getting up at 3 a.m that the angled flat (?) bed didnโt bother me that much. The footrest didnโt extend all that far, but I napped for a few hours.
After napping for a few hours I woke up and got some work done. Ethiopian doesnโt have Wi-Fi on its planes, sadly, so I actually had to be productive. While working, the crew came by to take orders for a hot mid-flight meal:
The non-veg choice was actually decent. Again, no prizes for plating, but taste wise this was light years ahead of the first meal.
After this, it was more trying to work, more fitful napping and more staring at the airshow willing the hours to pass more quickly.
About 90 minutes before landing, the second meal was served. I opted for the chicken with rice for my second meal. It didnโt look much more appealing than the first. I thought it strange that the side dish to my chicken with rice dish wasโฆanother rice dish.
If itโs any consolation, the chicken was actually really tender, almost to the point where I started worrying it might be undercooked.
The dessert cart came around and I had a brownie. I ate two bites and gave up- itโs safe to say that desserts arenโt the strong suit of ground services in ADD.
We ended up landing in GRU about 40 minutes ahead of schedule, more a function of the airline overblocking flying time than any particularly strong winds or anything. This was a really long flight, but as Iโve said before once youโre in business class you lose all right to complain too much. Think of the poor souls behind.
Conclusion
Although the flight was passable, as far as possible Iโd still aim to fly with a Europe/Asia-based *A partner in and out of Africa. You wonโt be miserable if you fly with ET, but donโt go away raving either.
No offense, but why didnโt you try the Ethiopian dishes instead. They are reportedly good http://liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com/2017/12/11/ethiopian-airlines-new-787-business-class-review/
Yet knowing from the last experience that the standard catering was not good you went ahead to choose the standard stuff and still came out disappointed.
Even the ang moh was brave enough to try it, we Asians are definitely better than that.
haha none taken. i will freely admit that iโm the least adventurous person i know of. that said my colleague tried the Ethiopian food and wasnโt blown away either. fwiw
I was reading this belatedly as I am in early stages of planning a vacation in a place easiest reached via ET from SIN. Iโll add to the chorus that Ethiopian cuisine is one of the better ones out there. But more interesting than the food is the plating: lots of yummy stews on injera (flat fermented bread) served on a communal plate. Everyone eats out of the plate with fingersโฆ.and youโre expected to feed each other! Ethiopian restaurants are some of the best date ideas โ indeed one of the earliest meals my now wife and I had wasโฆ Read more ยป
[โฆ] operates its B787 aircraft between ADD and GRU (and then onwards to EZE). These are very new aircraft, although unfortunately Ethiopian has put [โฆ]