In April 2017, I visited South Africa for a vacation and decided to fly Ethiopian there - simply because I wanted to accrue miles on Turkish Airlines' Miles&Smiles program where the cheapest ET Economy fare is also eligible to earn at 100% rate. The last time I flew with Ethiopian was back in August 2012 - almost 5 years ago and at that point my impression of the airline was so-so. Not too bad but not too great either.

This time, however, I was stunned by how much it has changed in the overall experience. The most impressive part was the quality of cabin crew, which has improved a lot, especially in Business Class where I had one of the best crew who looked after me really well. Economy experience on other three flights was also quite good.

I have to mention here that when I flew with them I was only a Star Alliance Silver status holder with Turkish. However, on all the flights I was lucky to receive special treatment even for just being the silver status member. Usually I thought it was the Gold status holder that would make the difference, but for Ethiopian the Silver status holders also seem to be looked after pretty well.

<Part 1: BOM-ADD>
------------------------------------------------
Flight Number: ET 611
Sector: Mumbai - Addis Ababa
Aircraft: B787-8
Date: 1/Apr/2017
ETD: 05:25
ATD: 06:09 (Take-off)
ETA: 08:00
ATA: 08:09 (Landing)
Block Time: 5hrs 5mins
Actual Flying Time: 4hrs 30mins
Class: Business (involuntary upgrade from Economy)
Seat Number: 1L
Plane Registration: ET-AOV
Delivery Date: 27/Jun/2014
------------------------------------------------


Check-in signage at Mumbai Airport


Check-in counters at Mumbai Airport


Air side at BOM T2

I'm always impressed by the quality of Mumbai Airport T2. It's like one giant museum or spa. Soothing background music, clean interior, art-gallery like paintings, and cultural handcrafts on display. It's one my top rated airports in the world.


Ethiopian Dreamliner arriving at BOM


ET pilots

I was originally booked for Economy, but at the boarding gate my name was called and an ET agent gave me a new boarding pass with Cloud Nine (Business Class) words written! I was really excited as normally I don't get free upgrades and this was actually the first time I was called at the gate to get the upgrade - even after having flown planes for more than 500 times.

I feel it had to do with Business cabin being empty and the airline had decided to bump up passengers with status (just my guess). I was only a silver-status holder, but glad I was eligible!


Business Class cabin

Ethiopian has two types of Business Class seat on B787 - B/E Aerospace Diamond full-flat (on the latest aircraft) and the original angled-flat seats. I got the latter.


Business Class cabin

Soon after I entered the cabin the crew welcomed me with genuine smiles.


My initial aisle seat


Welcome drink


Champagne at 6 in the morning!

Since I wanted a window seat I asked one of the crew if any empty window seat was available. She directed me to the first row and I moved the seat. The cabin was pretty empty.


My new seat in the first row


Amenity kit


Headphone


Breakfast menu


Drink menu (non-alcoholic)


Drink menu (alcoholic)


Passion fruit juice and a bowl of snack after take-off.


Ethiopian traditional snack "kolo" which is quite simple & addictive!


Californian honey wine

Ethiopian serves two types of honey wine - the Californian one above (Bee d'Vine) and traditional Ethiopian one called "Tej". Not many airlines offer honey wine and was curious to try them. Tej is thicker and sweeter while the Californian one is much smoother under my impression.


Tej


Tej poured into a glass

On this flight there is one meal served - breakfast. It's served before landing so I've decided to go off to sleep for a while. After some tej it put me into a good sleep!


Seat at the flat position

While the seat wasn't full-flat it was still quite comfortable. While I tried to put the blanket on to myself the cabin manager Meseret who was passing by the aisle saw me and came up and pulled the blanket. She said "this is my job, sir". Wow, I have always seen some airline ad where a crew tries to put a blanket on passenger but I've never actually seen that! And I'm experiencing just the same image here. Quite impressed. While it's nothing big deal and it's something you can easily do it by yourself, a little touch of care is what makes the difference.

I slept very well.


Inflight magazine


ET worldwide network


Quite impressive African network!

Time for breakfast. While I don't usually expect much from breakfast, as in many cases I don't find much difference between Economy and Business breakfast menu may be except for quantity. It's usually the lunch or dinner that distinguishes with Economy. However, I was pleasantly surprised with Ethiopian's breakfast offering and presentation.


Bread basket (served warm)


Breakfast plates

No tray used - the crew laid each plate one by one on the table.


Breakfast main

I chose an omelette and it was quite decent. Had orange juice along with the meal and was quite impressed that it was (tasted) freshly squeezed.


Tasty orange juice


Can't finish the meal without a cup of authentic brewed Ethiopian coffee!

It was almost the time for landing. I couldn't resist to have a photo together with one of the crew who was wearing the traditional Ethiopian dress. In Ethiopian flights on wide body aircraft, at least one of the crew members seems to wear such dress.


Ethiopian crew with traditional dress


Rugged terrain of Ethiopian highlands


Addis Ababa


Ancient planes just left abandoned on grass! DC3 may be?


Bole Airport T2

Now, the original schedule would only allow me to have transit time of just 25 minutes at ADD. Yes, Ethiopian issues the ticket with just 25 minutes connection! I was wondering how on earth one would be able to transfer between flights in such a short time and even with the checked-in luggage! I was quite skeptical about the baggage transfer even if I'd have made into the next flight. The flight was 10 minutes delayed so it means the next flight would only leave within 15 minutes connection. I was hoping my next Cape Town would not leave me!


My Dreamliner flight with "Taj Mahal"

There was no worry. Cape Town passengers were called soon after stepping out on tarmac and there was a separate bus waiting. Door to door in 5 minutes! Ethiopian arranges in such a way that Cape Town plane was waiting right next to where the Mumbai arrival flight was parked. No security check. It was the quickest airport transfer ever experienced!

I made to the next Cape Town flight safely.

<Part 2: ADD-CPT>
------------------------------------------------
Flight Number: ET 847
Sector: Addis Ababa - Cape Town
Aircraft: B777-300ER
Date: 1/Apr/2017
ETD: 08:25
ATD: 08:37 (Take-off)
ETA: 13:55
ATA: 14:01 (Landing)
Block Time: 6hrs 30mins
Actual Flying Time: 6hrs 24mins
Class: Economy
Seat Number: 40A
Plane Registration: ET-APY
Delivery Date: 24/Jan/2014
------------------------------------------------


Walking up from the backdoor.

As soon as us Mumbai passengers boarded the doors closed. Ethiopian configures 777 Economy in 3-3-3. Quite generous pitch both in width and leg room. It was quite a full flight but luckily my seat next to me (middle seat) was lying empty. Later I realized that when a *A silver passenger makes check-in the middle seat is automatically blocked if travelling solo. Only when flight is full I believe someone would be allotted the middle seat at last minute.


Generous leg room


Seat


Earphones


Amenity kit for a day-time flight!


Ethiopians everywhere!


Take-off


Addis Ababa


I believe it's Lake Awasa - correct me if I'm wrong


Entertainment controller


Approaching the Equator

The first meal service is offered. Since it's almost a 6.5hr flight 2 meals are served on this sector. The first was a snack. The choice was between ham or vegetarian. I chose the ham.


Sparkling water and ham sandwich.


Ham sandwich

The sandwich was simple - nothing spectacular.

I was fortunate throughout the entire flight the sky was clear and could enjoy the beautiful landscapes of the continent. It was great!


Mt. Kenya


Mt. Kilimanjaro!


Mt. Kilimanjaro up close

Movie selections were decent in my opinion and quite many to choose from. Even had Japanese anime!


Movie selections on board

Lunch was served after sometime. I chose fish and it didn't disappoint me. It was cooked in tomato sauce with penne, and the quantity was quite plentiful. It came with Mexican rice salad and chocolate mousse in which both were quite delicious. Cheese and crackers were also on the tray.


Great lunch tray

I have to mention here that the crew on this flight too was great. Very polite and smiling. When I said "thank you" to the crew would reply and say "you're welcome" - it's not what you hear always!


Zambezi River below - it would eventually lead to Victoria Falls


Orapa Airport in Botswana (I think)


Orapa Diamond Mine


Kalahari Desert


Orange River - now finally in South African territory


Approaching Cape Town


Table Mountain barely visible!


Cape Town


Cape Town Airport terminal

During disembarkation, airport staff greeted each one of us with "Welcome to Cape Town!" - that's a good gesture!


Ethiopian B777-300ER

I'd like to share some of photos that I took during SA trip. It's one of the most beautiful countries in the world and I love the country very much. So much to see, it's fun, and most people are genuinely friendly.


Cape Town at night


Table Mountain from Blouberg


Graffiti at Woodstock in Cape Town


Children in Cape Town


Langa Township


Mosque minaret in Bo Kaap


Colorful buildings of Bo Kaap


Table Mountain from Signal Hill


Muizenberg beach huts


Wine tasting with cheese pairing in Paarl


Boschendal wine farm


Stellenbosch


Sunset at Stellenbosch


Passing through Karoo


Great craft beer brand!


Wild lions at Pilanesberg National Park


Wild animal/bird watching at Pilanesberg National Park


South African BBQ - Braai!

<Part 3: JNB-ADD>
------------------------------------------------
Flight Number: ET 808
Sector: Johannesburg - Addis Ababa
Aircraft: B777-200LR
Date: 10/Apr/2017
ETD: 14:10
ATD: 14:42 (Take-off)
ETA: 20:25
ATA: 20:32 (Landing)
Block Time: 5hrs 15mins
Actual Flying Time: 4hrs 50mins
Class: Economy
Seat Number: 32L
Plane Registration: ET-ANN
Delivery Date: 17/Nov/2010
------------------------------------------------


ET check-in counters at JNB

This time it was B777-200LR. Basically the interior is the same as B777-300ER. This flight too, the middle seat next to me was kept empty.

I was also surprised that at the time of check-in, my check-in luggage was put on a priority baggage tag - I thought I was only a *A silver!

At the time of boarding, there was announcement where Sheba Miles Silver members could be boarded in priority. I was Turkish Silver but I tried going to the front. The agent looked at the boarding pass and let me go in. Great! I really appreciate how Ethiopian treats *A silver customers!


B777-200LR interior


Economy seats on B777-200LR


Jo'burg city from sky


Lunch

I chose beef option and it tasted pretty good. Again, the quantity of meat was plentiful. It was tender and cooked well. I see the quality of ET catering has gone up a lot in this 5 years! Had some red wine with the meal.

One sad news - on the outbound flight to CPT, there was a proper dessert served. This time, the dessert was a packaged berry energy bar. I have a sweet tooth and this was a major shock for me


Sad dessert...


Coffee

Once again, the crew on this flight too was fantastic. Very polite and smiling.


African evening


Mt. Kilimanjaro with moon


Economy cabin


Bole Airport at night

<Part 4: ADD-BOM>
------------------------------------------------
Flight Number: ET 640
Sector: Addis Ababa - Mumbai
Aircraft: B737-800
Date: 10/Apr/2017
ETD: 23:35
ATD: 23:51 (Take-off)
ETA: 07:15+1
ATA: 07:18+1 (Landing)
Block Time: 5hrs 10mins
Actual Flying Time: 4hrs 57mins
Class: Economy
Seat Number: 14A
Plane Registration: ET-AQO
Delivery Date: 7/May/2015
------------------------------------------------

Transit experience in ADD during peak hours is not pleasant. This is one area where Ethiopian experience is a let down. While the new terminal is under construction now, it won't be for another few years until it'll be ready and at the moment the current terminal isn't capable of handling such many number of flights at the same time. Ethiopian Airlines is one of the fastest growing airlines and the expansion is going too fast.


ADD during peak busy hours

I was surprised that there are so many Chinese passengers - in fact I felt like I was in a Chinese airport! They were definitely more than local passengers for sure. There even is an information counter for Chinese passengers.


Information counter for Chinese passengers

My advice for transit at ADD - for the security check just line up anywhere with the least queue, even if not for the correct boarding gate. After the security it's all connected inside and can move freely to any gate. The reason why I say is because certain line could be heavily congested and could take more than an hour. I saw passengers next gate where they couldn't make into the plane because the security took so long. Especially the "bus" gates security could be very crowded.


Big queue for security check

The bus gates are literally like a busy bus station. No place to sit, crammed, and extremely chaotic - but despite of such chaos there is proper boarding procedures so I'd say it's "organized chaos".

Now, on to the plane.


Business Class on B737-800


Economy Class cabin on B737-800

It was quite a new aircraft with Sky Interior. Now, this was the least favorable flight of all four - simply because the seat is so tight. It was a big contrast to earlier 777s which were quite comfortable, but not this one. Definitely not suited for an overnight 5hr flight. They should only use 737s to regional destinations. Earlier this segment was scheduled to be operated on B787 but at the last moment it was switched to the 737.


Tight seats


Not nice


Entertainment controller


Interior is nice though

The good thing about this flight was the food. Great tasting meal once again. I chose the chicken which was chicken tikka with rice and fried onion. Lots of juicy chicken chunks and it was quite delicious. Again, the dessert was cost-cut to the same energy bar I had on earlier flight. The crew members were also good.


Delicious meal


Bean salad

It was so difficult to sleep - despite the middle seat being empty again thanks to the airline's consideration. If the middle seat was also occupied it would have been even worse.


Approaching morning


Mumbai


Back in Mumbai!

Overall I was quite satisfied with Ethiopian's service. Apart from transit experience at Addis Ababa Airport and squishy B737 Economy seat everything else is fine and I'd happily fly with them again. Business Class quality is really a top-notch in my opinion (may be I was lucky to have a wonderful crew).

Hi Hirofumi!

Thanks for sharing, a nice report! An interesting read as I didn't really have an idea about the service on Ethiopian! The pictures of South Africa are really nice too

Martijn

Fantastic report. Thanks for sharing. Wonderful and comprehensive. Is that the new terminal i see at Addis? Greenish one (with the old DC3's in the frame)?

Deserts look atrocious like on some US airlines. Food on South African was much better than what you got on Ethiopian.
C Class don't have Flat beds what I understand.
What scares me is that visitors to Ethiopia need a Yellow Fever shot.
I assume that on connections it is not required.

I loved Cape Town. Thanks for the pictures.

CrimsonNL wrote:

Hi Hirofumi!

Thanks for sharing, a nice report! An interesting read as I didn't really have an idea about the service on Ethiopian! The pictures of South Africa are really nice too

Martijn

Hi Martjin, many thanks for your valuable feedback. Ethiopian is a solid airline and usually offers competitive fares. It's a good carrier!

tjcab wrote:

Fantastic report. Thanks for sharing. Wonderful and comprehensive. Is that the new terminal i see at Addis? Greenish one (with the old DC3's in the frame)?

Thanks for the comment. Yes there is a new terminal under construction but it's not completed yet. It's planned to be operational in January 2018.

lychemsa wrote:

Deserts look atrocious like on some US airlines. Food on South African was much better than what you got on Ethiopian.
C Class don't have Flat beds what I understand.
What scares me is that visitors to Ethiopia need a Yellow Fever shot.
I assume that on connections it is not required.

I loved Cape Town. Thanks for the pictures.

The dessert - the outbound chocolate mousse was pretty good, but the remaining two flights were sad looking. SAA sure has higher quality of meal with the proper dessert as well. ET does have full-flat beds on all A350s, B777s and some of new B787s.

Yellow fever vaccination I believe is required for some countries after having visited Ethiopia. When I visited there 7 years ago I wasn't asked once to show the certificate.

Thanks for the comment.

A great report. I want to try ET.

Your photos of South Africa are stunning, you could sell them to the South African ministry of tourism.

Thanks for your great report, it inspired me to give ET a try.

"Cost-cut" dessert? やれやれ...they'd probably at least give you a second energy bar if you asked.

I assume you had the Yellow Fever shot? I heard that it hurts and one can feel bad for a few days. As it is the only Live Virus vaccination it is not recommended for those over 60.

If I fly on C I want to make sure I get a Flat Bed.

Thank you for your nice Trip Report! I was a Month ago also in Capetown and had my last dinner at Borschendal winery

345tas wrote:

A great report. I want to try ET.

Your photos of South Africa are stunning, you could sell them to the South African ministry of tourism.

Thanks for the great compliment. I haven't thought about that!

PPVLC wrote:

Thanks for your great report, it inspired me to give ET a try.

Are you based in Brazil? Usually ET has great fares connecting Asia/Middle East and Brazil, and faster route too. Welcome to the A.net community!

BuildingMyBento wrote:

"Cost-cut" dessert? やれやれ...they'd probably at least give you a second energy bar if you asked.

I know, やれやれですね。A bit surprising for the cost cutting measure since their financial situation is pretty good. Looks like you too have the sweet tooth

lychemsa wrote:

I assume you had the Yellow Fever shot? I heard that it hurts and one can feel bad for a few days. As it is the only Live Virus vaccination it is not recommended for those over 60.

If I fly on C I want to make sure I get a Flat Bed.

I did - but I was only 25 so I didn't feel much pain or suffer from any side effect after the shot. The flatbeds on ET are similar to TK (for 777s) and UA 787s (for A350 and select 787s).

Robisintheair wrote:

Thank you for your nice Trip Report! I was a Month ago also in Capetown and had my last dinner at Borschendal winery

Thanks for the comment! I heard Boschendal serves great meal. I must give a try the next time!

Lovely and enjoyable TR Hirofumi,

I'm heading off to CP for the third time in a few weeks, though It will be with Kenya Airways that sends a tiny EMB190 compared to your allmighty 777. interesting to learn ET that can fill this big bird! Do you remember the origins of the majority of the population on the ADD-CPT-ADD sectors?

Always nice to get an opup especially on a night and long haul flight, looks like your FF card is finally useful !

Passengers seated on the right side may have seen the Victoria Falls as on your picture you can notice Lake Kariba which is located downstream... you would have missed the Kili and the Mount Kenya then... quite hard decision!!

Excellent pictures from Stellenbosch and you with the crew member!

Many thanks for sharing, looking forward to more.

Nope, I live in the UK, and thank you!

eastafspot wrote:

Lovely and enjoyable TR Hirofumi,

I'm heading off to CP for the third time in a few weeks, though It will be with Kenya Airways that sends a tiny EMB190 compared to your allmighty 777. interesting to learn ET that can fill this big bird! Do you remember the origins of the majority of the population on the ADD-CPT-ADD sectors?

Always nice to get an opup especially on a night and long haul flight, looks like your FF card is finally useful !

Passengers seated on the right side may have seen the Victoria Falls as on your picture you can notice Lake Kariba which is located downstream... you would have missed the Kili and the Mount Kenya then... quite hard decision!!

Excellent pictures from Stellenbosch and you with the crew member!

Many thanks for sharing, looking forward to more.

Hi Eastafspot, many thanks for your feedback. I believe your KQ flight will either stop at LVI or VFA? Hope you can get some good views of the waterfall! KQ offered very competitive Business Class fare out of BOM to CPT, so I was tempted to fly with them. Very curious about the products. It'll be great if you can share with us after you flight experience!

The ADD-CPT flight was almost full - I'd say the load factor was close to 90%. Most of the passengers were European tourists, and a few South Africans (I could tell by how crowded the immigration queues were). On the other hand JNB-ADD flight was a good mix of Africans, Europeans, and Asians and could figure it was mostly businessmen/women who were flying. Interesting difference.

About the sitting position - yes, it was a very difficult choice! Not only the right side would allow me to see the Victoria Falls but also that was the side for viewing Table Mountain as well. I couldn't resist Kilimanjaro though!

The area around Stellenbosch is quite beautiful - as well as Franschhoek. If you have the chance, have a visit, and wines are great too.

Once again, thanks for your comment.

PPVLC wrote:

Nope, I live in the UK, and thank you!

Ah, that'll even give easier opportunities to fly the airline

Nice report, and a good selection of metal! Great that you were upgraded and got good *S treatment. When I flew ET I was also *S, but my boarding passes all showed *G, so maybe there is a bug in the system (still!) and it shows all *S as *G?

I'm surprised that CPT got a 77W...i've seen it a few times as a 737 operating via GBE!

hirofumi wrote:

eastafspot wrote:

Lovely and enjoyable TR Hirofumi,

I'm heading off to CP for the third time in a few weeks, though It will be with Kenya Airways that sends a tiny EMB190 compared to your allmighty 777. interesting to learn ET that can fill this big bird! Do you remember the origins of the majority of the population on the ADD-CPT-ADD sectors?

Always nice to get an opup especially on a night and long haul flight, looks like your FF card is finally useful !

Passengers seated on the right side may have seen the Victoria Falls as on your picture you can notice Lake Kariba which is located downstream... you would have missed the Kili and the Mount Kenya then... quite hard decision!!

Excellent pictures from Stellenbosch and you with the crew member!

Many thanks for sharing, looking forward to more.

Hi Eastafspot, many thanks for your feedback. I believe your KQ flight will either stop at LVI or VFA? Hope you can get some good views of the waterfall! KQ offered very competitive Business Class fare out of BOM to CPT, so I was tempted to fly with them. Very curious about the products. It'll be great if you can share with us after you flight experience!

The ADD-CPT flight was almost full - I'd say the load factor was close to 90%. Most of the passengers were European tourists, and a few South Africans (I could tell by how crowded the immigration queues were). On the other hand JNB-ADD flight was a good mix of Africans, Europeans, and Asians and could figure it was mostly businessmen/women who were flying. Interesting difference.

About the sitting position - yes, it was a very difficult choice! Not only the right side would allow me to see the Victoria Falls but also that was the side for viewing Table Mountain as well. I couldn't resist Kilimanjaro though!

The area around Stellenbosch is quite beautiful - as well as Franschhoek. If you have the chance, have a visit, and wines are great too.

Once again, thanks for your comment.

Yes indeed outbound via LVI inbound via VFA, I'll try my best to write 1 part or 2 but don't hold your breath
Thanks to you report, it now becomes obvious that ET is doing a better job on this specific route to Cape Town with a non-stop flight, lie-flat/full flat seat and a comprehensive IFE system, also ET does showcase local products like the "kolo" snack, the "Tej" drink and Injera (the latter for lunch/dinner times only)... Moreover, price wise, they were among the cheapest options right?

Good choice for the Kili as it may be one of your last times/photos you'll see the it with snow on the top! Due to drought (less forests near it) and climate changes, experts say that from 2020 onwards the snow will definitely melt down. Very sad

Yeah a day trip to Franschhoek was done to visit some wineries with the Hop-on Hop-off wine tram on the Green Line! Despite the «Wine Tram» being more or less a marketing stuff, as 90 % of the journey is done on a bus, it was a really nice day out where, at the end, walking a straight line became a real challenge...

Can you arrange some township visits in CP too?

gabrielchew wrote:

Nice report, and a good selection of metal! Great that you were upgraded and got good *S treatment. When I flew ET I was also *S, but my boarding passes all showed *G, so maybe there is a bug in the system (still!) and it shows all *S as *G?

I'm surprised that CPT got a 77W...i've seen it a few times as a 737 operating via GBE!

Thanks for stopping by. That's really cool your boarding passes showed *G! You could have enjoyed lounges as well. Unfortunately my boarding passes showed *S so I wasn't going to dive into lounges and see if they worked. Now the CPT flights receive a mix of 787 (nonstop and the same flight number I flew on) and 737 (this one stops at JNB and is an overnight flight).

eastafspot wrote:

Yes indeed outbound via LVI inbound via VFA, I'll try my best to write 1 part or 2 but don't hold your breath
Thanks to you report, it now becomes obvious that ET is doing a better job on this specific route to Cape Town with a non-stop flight, lie-flat/full flat seat and a comprehensive IFE system, also ET does showcase local products like the "kolo" snack, the "Tej" drink and Injera (the latter for lunch/dinner times only)... Moreover, price wise, they were among the cheapest options right?

Good choice for the Kili as it may be one of your last times/photos you'll see the it with snow on the top! Due to drought (less forests near it) and climate changes, experts say that from 2020 onwards the snow will definitely melt down. Very sad

Yeah a day trip to Franschhoek was done to visit some wineries with the Hop-on Hop-off wine tram on the Green Line! Despite the «Wine Tram» being more or less a marketing stuff, as 90 % of the journey is done on a bus, it was a really nice day out where, at the end, walking a straight line became a real challenge...

Can you arrange some township visits in CP too?

Looking forward for your review(s!). I would have been happier if the upgrade happened on the CPT flight since it would have been full-flat and I could have tried the tasty injera like you've said! Note that injera and other Ethiopian dishes seem to be provided only on flights out of ADD.

The fares were very good out of Mumbai. Return Economy from BOM with CPT-in/JNB-out was USD450 in the cheapest Economy (simple JNB return would have been even cheaper!) and I could have added only USD150 to upgrade JNB-ADD-BOM sectors to Business Class. The upgrade was extremely tempting but it would be booked in "P" class, which cannot be accrued on most programs except for ET and CA. I needed to reach *G with TK so I decided to stick with Economy and receive miles instead.

Interesting note about the Kilimanjaro. That's sad indeed.

So you have been to the Cape Winelands. You know the beauty already

For the township tour in Cape Town, I've organized a private photography tour with a professional local cameraman as a guide. You can join a group tour that other tour operators organize I guess, but for the one I went to was more personal, visited a local bar and residence thanks to the connection the guide has with the locals. If you are into photography, I highly recommend this. I actually did 2 full days in Cape Town and the Winelands, all customized, and I hence I managed to take some good photos

hirofumi wrote:

The fares were very good out of Mumbai. Return Economy from BOM with CPT-in/JNB-out was USD450 in the cheapest Economy (simple JNB return would have been even cheaper!) and I could have added only USD150 to upgrade JNB-ADD-BOM sectors to Business Class. The upgrade was extremely tempting but it would be booked in "P" class, which cannot be accrued on most programs except for ET and CA. I needed to reach *G with TK so I decided to stick with Economy and receive miles instead.

Interesting note about the Kilimanjaro. That's sad indeed.

So you have been to the Cape Winelands. You know the beauty already

For the township tour in Cape Town, I've organized a private photography tour with a professional local cameraman as a guide. You can join a group tour that other tour operators organize I guess, but for the one I went to was more personal, visited a local bar and residence thanks to the connection the guide has with the locals. If you are into photography, I highly recommend this. I actually did 2 full days in Cape Town and the Winelands, all customized, and I hence I managed to take some good photos

very rational for the upgrade declined!
Thanks for the infos and the link, much appreciated

eastafspot wrote:

very rational for the upgrade declined!
Thanks for the infos and the link, much appreciated

Thanks Hirofumi for the report on this route less travelled.

Stunning landscapes across Africa and thank you for pointing out the geographical features. I love looking out of the windows too.
And your cape town pics are simply wow. It's one of my Favourite city in the world too.

ADD looks like a disaster. I hope I don't have to go through it until the new terminal opens.
China is a strong player in African infrastructure so that explains the large presence of Chinese on the continent. I also saw Chinese newspapers at JnB airport recently

Anyway, ET looks like a decent airline. It's not 5* but I Guess the price is right and it is value for money,

SQueeze wrote:

Thanks Hirofumi for the report on this route less travelled.

Stunning landscapes across Africa and thank you for pointing out the geographical features. I love looking out of the windows too.
And your cape town pics are simply wow. It's one of my Favourite city in the world too.

ADD looks like a disaster. I hope I don't have to go through it until the new terminal opens.
China is a strong player in African infrastructure so that explains the large presence of Chinese on the continent. I also saw Chinese newspapers at JnB airport recently

Anyway, ET looks like a decent airline. It's not 5* but I Guess the price is right and it is value for money,

Hi SQueeze, many thanks for your comment.

ADD is really chaotic. However, if you are *G or Business Class passenger you'll have a separate lane for checks so that'll help a lot. By reading travel blogs the Cloud Nine lounge seems pretty decent too (only for Biz passengers though, otherwise *G can use more crowded dedicated lounge).

ET is really improving rapidly - wait for a few more years and I won't be surprised if I see them becoming a world-class airline.

Great report, I flew ET years ago when they still had the ex-KLM 767's in their fleet. If I travel to Africa it might make sense over say an EK or EY but ET flies the 737 from DEL on a 7hr flight and that IMO is too long in a narrow body.

cricket wrote:

Great report, I flew ET years ago when they still had the ex-KLM 767's in their fleet. If I travel to Africa it might make sense over say an EK or EY but ET flies the 737 from DEL on a 7hr flight and that IMO is too long in a narrow body.

Hi cricket, thanks for your comment. I agree that it doesn't make sense to operate 737s to Delhi - I've been on it and it's pretty painful, given the narrow seat pitch and width. They should at least differentiate the regional use and mid-haul use.

Excellent report....I enjoyed reading very much. I need to visit Africa...maybe in 2018. Regards, Moe

aeromoe wrote:

Excellent report....I enjoyed reading very much. I need to visit Africa...maybe in 2018. Regards, Moe

Hi Moe, thanks for you comment.

Lovely report! Great pics too! Will meet you next time if you come to Mumbai!!

VarunSolanki747 wrote:

Lovely report! Great pics too! Will meet you next time if you come to Mumbai!!

Thanks Varun Solanki747! Also enjoyed your Air India B777 review

Great you showed a lot and included a lot of detail
Well done.

TheGeordielad wrote:

Great you showed a lot and included a lot of detail
Well done.

Thank you

Thanks for the nice pictures you shared with us.

SeaDoo wrote:

Thanks for the nice pictures you shared with us.

Thanks for going through!