Ethiopian Airlines B787 business class cabin, Stockholm to Addis Ababa
Flight: ET 715 Date of flight: September 20, 2017 Departure time in Stockholm (ARN): 21:50 Arrival time in Addis Ababa (ADD): 6:20 (+1) Aircraft: Boeing 787-8 Seat: 2A Duration: 7h 30min
*Revenue Ticket, Business Class flight #132 Video Review on my YouTube Channel 📺
Check-in, Desk 33
We arrived at Stockholm Arlanda Airport Terminal 5 three hours before departure and immediately headed to the check-in counter. Check-in counter 33 was for business class passengers and status members, and after the lady ahead of us was checked-in, we were helped by a friendly agent who was very efficient and tagged our checked-in bag in no time. He also informed us that we could use the SAS Lounge near gate 1.
An Ethiopian lady by the check-in counter 😍
SAS Business Lounge
Video of SAS Business Lounge from my YouTube Channel 📺
We first headed to the SAS Business Class Lounge and then transferred to the SAS Gold Lounge.
SAS Gold Lounge food offering
The SAS Gold Lounge has definitely a much better food and drinks offering so if you are flying in business class and happen to have Star Alliance gold status as well, I recommend using this lounge instead. We left the lounge around 8:45pm for the 9:05pm boarding at gate F65 since we still had to go thru passport control.
The new Volvo XC 60 ad, Arlanda Airport Terminal 5
Boarding, Gate F65
Gate F65 before boarding
Aircraft, Boeing 787-8
Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 787-8 😍
Boarding started with business class passengers and those with status around 9:15pm.
Cabin
The business class cabin has a 2-2-2 configuration with 4 rows having a total of 24 seats. On this flight, there were 12 passengers plus a pilot (I guess).
Seat 2A
Welcome to Ethiopian Airlines Business Class called "Cloud Nine"😍
Waiting at my seat was a pillow and a blanket. As soon as I was seated, one of the flight attendants came to introduce herself and welcome us. She also offered some local newspapers but I declined.
Also waiting at my seat was the business class amenity kit consisting of a toothbrush/toothpaste, socks and eye shades.
Moments later, we were offered some predeparture drinks. I chose a glass of water and Mike had a glass of champagne. We were also offered a bottle of mineral water and hot towel. Swedish newspapers were also offered followed by the menu card. As it was my first time flying business class on Ethiopian, I was eager to see the seat features which are as follows:
Seat controls
Personal screen
Headphones and IFE controls
Ethiopian Business class blanket
Bottle holder, IFE controls and power ports all under the right armrest
Reading lamp
Privacy divider
Magazines and waste bag
Ethiopian Boeing 787 safety instruction card
Around 9:35pm, one of the flight attendants came to take our meal order. I chose the chicken soup and the chicken breast fillet for my main course although I was informed they didn't have it so I chose the salmon instead. I was also asked if they should wake me up for breakfast and which I said yes.
Airshow en route to Addis Ababa
Pushback was at 9:55pm although it was strange that the screen was showing Oslo to Stockholm which was from the previous flight (this flight starts from Oslo to Addis Ababa via Stockholm).
Moments later, the inflight safety video was played.
IFE screen
As for the movie selection, they had a few films which I had not seen before like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and Smurfs: The Lost Village.
I ended up watching Pirates of the Caribbean which I thought was a cool movie 😉
Take off went smoothly (and silently 😉) and around 10:25, my table was set up.
Dining, Dinner
Menu card
Menu card
Dinner menu
Dinner menu
Breakfast menu
Drinks list
The champagne was Champagne Lallier Brut and the sparkling wine was the Italian Bottega Gold.
Coffee
International wine selection
For my drinks, I chose a glass of passion fruit juice which was very good 😋 The coaster was also very nice 👍
I was first served the salmon by mistake although it was changed to the soup which I ordered instead.
Unfortunately, the soup was not what I expected it to be as it was some sort of cream soup.
For the main course, Mike had the Grilled Tournedos with Mashed Potatoes and Parsley, which according to him was good.
I on the other hand chose the Fried Salmon Fillet with Whole Grain Rice which was okay.
Cheese Plate and Cherry Tartlet 😋😋
Green Tea and Pralines
The meal was actually good although still not in the same level as the meals you would get from Qatar Airways or Turkish Airlines business class. There was also no refill of juices unfortunately.
Like with most airlines nowadays, there was no turn down service offered. The seat has a 170 degrees recline which means there is a tendency you could slide down when lying. Hopefully, they would upgrade these seats to fully flat beds in the future 😉
As with most Boeing 787s, the mood lighting was beautiful 👍
Toilet & Lavatory
The lavatory was okay although to have only one toilet for all 24 business class passengers was a total miss on Ethiopians part, in my opinion. We were only 12 passengers on this flight and we already had a few minutes waiting time so I could imagine it could only be worse when the cabin is full.
Dining, Breakfast
With less than two hours before landing, the flight attendant came to my seat to wake me up for the breakfast service.
I had Pancake with Wild Berry Jam, Sliced Fruits and Yogurt.
The yogurt must have been taken out too early from the cooler as it was served in room temperature. The bread was cold unfortunately 👎
Mike on the other hand had the Scrambled Eggs with Potato Croquettes, Chicken Sausages and Tomato Sauce Thyme.
To end my breakfast, I had a cup of green tea as usual.
The service was very quick as we were done with still one hour left before landing.
Landing at Addis Ababa Airport
We started our descent around 5:55am ...
... and landed at the Addis Ababa Airport at 6:13am, a few minutes ahead of schedule. We landed in a remote stand though, so we had to use a bus to reach the terminal.
The good thing is that they had a special bus for business class passengers.
And of course, I got to see the beautiful Dreamliner one last time 😉
CONCLUSION
It was my first time flying in Ethiopian Airlines business class so I was really excited to make this review. I knew that they only had one lavatory/toilet in the business class cabin and that the seats are not really fully flat beds so I was prepared for that. Unfortunately, the amenity kit contained very basic things which can be found in economy class so I really hope Ethiopian could improve on that aspect. The food and drinks selection were okay but nothing special. Overall, it was a nice flight since the food and seats were okay and the service was friendly although there's still a lot of room for improvement. For the price we paid (about 10,800 SEK), it was definitely a very good value and I'd recommend it to everyone if they are able to get it for the same price as we did 😉
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