Review: Ethiopian Airlines A350-1000 Business Class Addis Ababa-London (Heathrow)
- Konrad Tillman
- 2 hours ago
- 11 min read
Intro
The next stop on this worldwind of a journey home was on the brand new Ethiopian Airlines A350-1000 in Business Class. For those unaware, 5 months ago, Ethiopian Airlines became the first African carrier to take delivery of the A350-1000, and the airline currently operates a fleet of three aircraft to the likes of Abuja, Lagos, Washington, and London (sometimes other locations as well).
However, keep in mind that with Ethiopian, last-minute aircraft changes are frequent. Usually, DC and London are prioritized, but this is not 100% foolproof.
So, how was this brand-new business class cabin? After all the times I have flown Ethiopian Airlines, the service from Addis Ababa to London was a bit underwhelming, in all honesty. With slow service, an unappealing menu, and seats already showing minor signs of age, it seems that there is room for improvement here.
Route-Addis Ababa-London Heathrow
Flight Number- ET700
Seat- 10A
Aircraft- Airbus A350-1000
Date- March 30th, 2025
Flight Time- 7 Hours and 53 Minutes
Price Paid- 2900$ RT (ADD-LHR-YUL-LAX-YUL-LHR-ADD)
How I Booked
Flights from certain parts of Africa to the United States are priced very fairly in premium cabins. Looking online, I managed to find a fare from Addis Ababa to Los Angeles for 2300 one-way, or round-trip for 2900. Considering PQP is distance-based on non UA carriers, this would net me close to 4600 PQP for 2900, while having the opportunity to try out Ethiopian Airlines A350-1000 (on hopefully both legs).
However, the weird part is that I wasn’t able to select seats while booking or on their app. I even tried emailing them, but received no response. Even when I called them, they selected seats on the phone, but they didn’t end up registering. Thankfully, the lounge agent was able to secure the last true window seat for me in Addis, but there is something to note about this.
Boarding
Finishing up in the Ethiopian Airlines Lounge (which is decent, but not exceptional), I headed off to the gate around 11:45 pm for our scheduled boarding time of 12:05 am. US/UK-bound flights have to go through additional security, so as I arrived at the gate, I realized that I had been an absolute melon and forgot about the time change with daylight savings coming into effect. The flight now departed at 1:45 am local time…
Sometimes I wonder about myself in all honesty, travel savvy in some areas, and clueless in others.
Heading back to the lounge, I enjoyed a little bit more time working before engaging in round two of security checkpoints. With the number of times I go through security, I think I feel more at home in line than actually at home…
Slightly behind schedule at 1:15 am, boarding commenced with those needing assistance, followed by passengers in group 1. The jetbridge was a little bit backed up (at least we had a jetbridge, a unicorn occurrence at ADD but more likely with UK flights), and we didn’t end up getting onboard until around 1:25 am.
For some reason, the cabin crew felt very rushed, even at the door. This set the mood for the flight.
The Seat/Cabin
Stepping into the Ethiopian Airlines A35K Cabin, I was pleased to find a beautiful setup of business class seats between doors 1 and 2.
Seats are laid out in a 1-2-1 configuration offering direct aisle access to all passengers, with the center seats having 12 rows and window seats having 11. With a half-empty cabin today, this is more than adequate for the flight over to London.
Similar to the likes of Polaris and the Air France A350 product, seats alternate either facing straight and towards the window. If you are a solo traveler, I recommend window seats in even-numbered rows, and if traveling together, look for the “honeymoon seats” in odd-numbered rows (unless you don’t like the other person 😅).
Each seat featured a high definition screen in front of you, a small cabinet for storage next to you, a light next to your shoulder, a couple of seat controls (not the full works like other carriers), and an armrest that flips up or down. Thinkg
The one small drawback I have with the seat is the narrow footwell that it offers. While the seat is mightily similar to the United 787-9, it seemed that the footwell was a little bit narrower than it could have been.
The other small aspect I noticed is that there was already a panel coming off under the seat (near the window). Considering this aircraft is no more than 5 months old, it will be interesting to observe the longevity of this product. Oh yeah: no overhead vents either.
And yes, Ethiopian Airlines decided not to install luggage compartments in the center, meaning the cabin does feel very airy (in a good way).
Departure
With cabin crew and maintenance rushing through the cabin, attempting to get everything sorted for an on-time departure, it wasn’t until 1:40 when a flight attendant came up to offer us a pair of slippers and an amenity kit.
5 minutes later, the captain came on to welcome us onboard and inform us of our 7-hour and 20-minute flight time over to Heathrow today. Interesting, no pre-departure beverage??
Well, a few moments later, the cabin crew came around to offer us a pre-departure beverage as we were pushing back. Okay, props here to Ethiopian, as when offering a pre-departure beverage, they come around with two flight attendants pouring champagne at your seat. Seriously, few airlines in business class do this…
Champagne in hand, listening to those Rolls-Royce Engines firing up, we began our taxi out to the solo operating runway at Addis. At 1:45 am, the cabin crew were still running around doing last-minute checks and picking up glasses from the pre-departure beverage service.
So when we got to the runway at 1:50 and the captain mentioned “cabin crew to your stations”, they were running to their seats while the engines had been fired up and we were beginning our takeoff sequence. It personally doesn’t affect me, but I actually worry about this safety-wise since the crew was fully in the cabin at the start of the sequence…
IFE+WIFI
Once airborne, it was time to check out the in-flight entertainment on today's flight. Each seat comes with a modern and high-definition screen, along with a fantastic remote located in the storage compartment.
Ethiopian Airlines offers plenty of great options. Not quite as good as the likes of British Airways or Emirates, but enough to keep you entertained, even if you fly them 2-3x a month.
But the best part has to have been the tail camera that they chose to install on these jets. Exceptional work, Ethiopian Airlines.
However, what really stood out to me was the fact that the wifi was broken on today's flight. Considering this plane is so new, one has to wonder what happened here?
Amenities
In terms of amenities, Ethiopian Airlines does a decent job of keeping passengers comfortable enough for a redeye. Each passenger receives a pair of headphones, a decent blanket, an okay pillow, and a pair of slippers. All in all, fine, but drops the ball on the longer flights, such as DC-Addis Ababa, as there are no mattress pads. Mattress pads really do make a difference on those longer flights…
Additionally, passengers receive a nice amenity kit featuring all of the basic necessities needed, such as a toothbrush and a pair of socks to sleep in.
Let’s mark this category as acceptable, but room for improvement.
Meal Service
On my previous flights with Ethiopian Airlines, I have had some business class food which I would rank up there with some of the best. However, on the flight today to London, this would prove to be very different.
ET offers a very different concept of a meal service on flights departing after midnight, and I have to say that I was a little confused by the menu. Like a tuna salad sandwich and a Philly cheesesteak wrap? The one aspect I will praise the airline for is its comprehensive wine selection from all over the world. Exceptional stuff from a multitude of regions.
The return menu did look a lot better, and I will be reviewing that flight soon.
Approximately 30 minutes after takeoff, the cabin crew came around to take our meal orders and offer us a choice of beverages. I mentioned, “I’m really sorry to ask, but I was wondering if I could get a cheese plate quickly to snack on before heading to bed”. They said, “Okay”.
But here is where the service really dropped the ball. It took an hour and 10 minutes, and that was after chasing up the cabin crew once again, to get this small-looking cheese plate and a glass of wine. For a redeye departing at 1:45 am and a half-empty cabin, really?
To make matters worse, when the flight attendant came over to bring me my cheese plate, it was slammed down on the table with no words spoken. I’ll try to remain constructive here, but there are certainly more polite ways to present a cheese plate that came out an hour and 15 minutes after takeoff.
Lavatories
Tired as a time-traveling raccoon that crash-landed in a psychology lecture, I decided to check out one of the four dedicated business class lavatories. Each one was kept clean throughout the flight, although stocked with the bare minimum in terms of amenities.
There are two lavatories near door 1, and two located by door 2.
The Bed
Look, maybe I am being harsh here, but I will say I came into this flight unbelievably excited for their A350-1000. After having some fantastic sleeps on their 787 fleet in the past, I figured it could only get better.
While I appreciated that no one was next to me, the seat felt on the narrow side when in lie-flat mode, in combination with the lack of a mattress pad, I didn’t have the most incredible sleep to date.
Look, it’s fine, but it could be even better with just a little bit more bedding.
Service
Now that I was awake, I actually took out my laptop before landing to reflect on the service offered on today's flight. The past 8 flights on Ethiopian have provided exceptional service, even the flight the day before in economy from Nossi Be to Addis Ababa. However, Ethiopian Airlines dropped the ball here today. Here are a few points that stood out to me.
Getting onboard into a business class seat should be a relaxing experience, not staff running up and down the aisles. Considering the inbound aircraft arrived quite early, this is something that I imagine could have been dealt with earlier. Maybe there happened to be extenuating circumstances, but I am curious what was going on here, as it really was like Central Park Zoo in the business class cabin.
There was no welcome onboard, or even when deplaning, there was no traditional “thank you”.
While not directly related to service towards me, the cabin crew were up in the cabin while the takeoff sequence began. It all felt very rushed and unpolished.
However, the main kicker for me was how long a cheese plate took to arrive, and when it did arrive, how it was presented with attitude. An hour and 15 minutes after takeoff on a 1:45 am flight (in a half-empty cabin) shows the lack of observing a cabin and managing flight times correctly. Most people want to sleep on red eyes…
Look, I only point this out in hopes that Ethiopian Airlines somehow acknowledges this and is able to adjust for these late redeye flights. Please never think I am criticizing when I write stuff like this, but I am simply trying to provide constructive feedback.
I would also like to mention that this was an anomaly from the past flights, so let’s see what the return leg looks like soon.
Arrival
After about 5 and a half hours of sleep, I arose from the dead like a voicemail from your boss at 3 am: you know you shouldn’t pick up, by you do anyway.
At this point, I couldn’t be bothered to try and ask for something to drink, so I sat back and observed these beautiful views out over the English Countryside.
Gosh I am sucker for the A350-1000, and what felt like minutes later, we touched down from the West (runway 09R) at 7:28 am local time with a beautiful landing. Hats off to the captain here.
From there, we had a 10-minute taxi to a remote stand at Terminal 2, where out of the corner of our eye, there were MET Police officers waiting on the tarmac. For a second, I thought “oh no, what have I done 😅”.
As the doors opened, the police met us at the door and requested that a passenger come to the front before we could deplane. As it would turn out, the passenger had “a sore leg and couldn’t move (but not on departure)”, so after 20 minutes of holding, they finally let us off. Oh drama, drama, drama.
While I don’t usually like a remote stand, it’s not a bad thing at Terminal 2 at LHR, as you don’t have to do that long walk 🥴, which is truly a calf burner.
From there, it was a quick transit, and so began the long walk back to the Air Canada Lounge. Great…
Final Thoughts
Going into this flight with Ethiopian Airlines, I was extremely excited to try out their brand-new flagship product. However, after almost 8 hours onboard, this product seems to be a bit of a mixed bag from all angles.
The food is a bit of a letdown on redeyes departing after midnight, but the wine list is extensive, offering options from all over the world.
The seat is a big upgrade to the Ethiopian Airlines fleet, but the footwell was on the narrower side, and it was already beginning to show minor signs of wear and tear.
The IFE was modern and had a decent amount of selection, but the wifi was broken…
The service was the only aspect that was solely a letdown on this flight. However, due to my previous flights with Ethiopian Airlines, we’ll label this one as an anomaly for now.
Overall, I found this flight to be alright for a business class product, but not exceptional. Would I fly this route again with Ethiopian Airlines? Potentially, I think the next leg on the way back will be a deciding factor, but I still believe that Ethiopian Airlines is getting better and better every day, while simultaneously remaining the best airline on the African continent.
