Expect To See A Lot More Ethiopian Airlines In Dublin

Do you know for a fact that they don't have DUB-JFK rights?

It could just be that they're not interested in offering service as they presume that there isn't much of a market for a one-way service so they might as well skips costs associated with taking on pax and bags (one flight is enough to cover ADD-DUB traffic).

No rights for DUB-YYZ I can understand given Canada's anti-consumer approach to aviation rights.

BTW DUB should be much less strike prone than FCO.

I didn't know the high altitude at ADD would play a factor in preventing IAD-ADD non-stop westbound flights. Why is that the case? Given the 787's long range, I would think it can cover IAD-ADD nonstop both ways.

According to Great Circle Mapper, the difference in distance is exactly 1 mile to LAX. http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=add-dub-lax,+add-fco-lax It's even shorter through DUB :).

IAD is 71 miles longer through DUB: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=add-dub-IAD,+add-fco-iad

YYZ is 36 miles longer: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=add-dub-yyz,+add-fco-yyz

At the end, I think you're right they're saving money by using a stop more in the middle of the flight. And, as John Tarik says, strikes might also be an extra incentive. Congestion as well, I think: FCO is busier than DUB.

" Because Addis Ababa is at an extremely high altitude (~7,600 feet), so there’s no way to fly to the US nonstop from there."

Must be something about aviation that I'm not familiar with, but why does the altitude of the departure airport affect the distance the plane can fly?

If anything, there are fewer vertical feet to travel up to cruising altitude, no? 😉

@Joey:
Look up "Hot and high" on Wikipedia.

@ Joey @ Jon -- As noted by frank, see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_and_high

@Jon The air is thinner at 7600 ft and thus means it's harder to gain lift. It results in planes needing to take off with less weight.

I don't think the hot and high status of the airport is the issue here. The way to compensate for the circumstances is a longer runway, so you can take off at higher speeds. And the runway is 5km, 15,000 ft. Seems enough compensation to me. However, flying west takes more time and more fuel. It might be that they reach their maximum too easily and therefore need a fuel stop (maybe just to be sure).

Could cost of Fuel in AA be a factor?

There were some crazy low fares on ET when I looked about 6 weeks ago. Not as cheap, but its still showing up £390/$580 return for August

Thx Frank, Lucky, and W. I didn't know that about high altitude airports! Wow!

@JMR - You are partly correct. The problem is that when you take off at higher speeds, the temperature of your tyres rises due to the increased friction with the runway. The tyre speed to depart from Addis nonstop to North America exceeds the certified limits of the aircraft tyres, creating an increased risk of tyre burst and/or fire. Hence, the aircraft is payload limited (hence range limited) on Addis departures.

Off-topic question : do they still not offer lie flat biz class seats in the DC to Addis route?

Ethiopian are advertising quite heavily here in Dublin, albeit the ads are of poor quality. The message seems to be getting across as I know a few who have booked with them, their cheap fares certainly help that.

From the Wikipedia article Ben posted above, this portion seems to be the answer as to why they have to make a fuel stop leaving from ADD to the US:

"Some ways to increase aircraft performance in hot and high conditions include:
Reduce aircraft weight. Weight can be reduced by carrying only enough fuel to reach the (lower-altitude) destination rather than filling the tanks completely."

So they probably can't load enough fuel to safely take off from ADD, and still make it all the way to North America.

@ Kenny -- Not yet, but as of June the flight will be operated by a 777-300ER, and I believe those feature fully flat beds.

@lucky @kenny The flat bed seats are presently installed only on ET-ASG and ET-ASH. The next aircraft to go in for reconfig will be the 777-200LRs (ET-ANN/O/P/Q/R and ET-AQL). The 777-300ERs are not yet planned for the flat beds but are widely expected to follow the -200LRs, and then the older 787s will start retrofit following that.

@ Sean M. -- Thanks for the clarification. I was under the impression that the 777-300ERs were delivered with flat beds. Guess not. Ouch!

Thanks Sean and Lucky for the info. Looks like I need to stick with my plan for SAA biz class for my Africa trip in the Fall.