Review: Ethiopian Airlines Business Class Airbus A350 (CAI-ADD)

For the next segment of my quick trip to Paris and Cairo, I flew Ethiopian Airlines’ Airbus A350-900 business class (marketed as “Cloud Nine”) on the 3hr40min middle of the night flight from Cairo (CAI) to Addis Ababa (ADD). This was my first flight on Ethiopian in many years, so I was excited to give the airline another shot.

How was my experience? Look, Africa is a tricky continent for aviation, and Ethiopian is about as good as it gets — it’s Africa’s most global, reliable, and profitable airline. All things considered, I had a solid flight, with a friendly crew, good amenities, and a decent breakfast. I even managed to get some rest.

I’d say there are two things that are a bit frustrating about Ethiopian. First of all, the airline constantly swaps planes, so you never actually know what you’re going to fly.

Second of all, the carrier’s business class product is very inconsistent (more so on 787s than A350s), which isn’t ideal. So you could end up on one of the carrier’s 18-hour flights to the United States (with a refueling stop in Rome) in a flat bed with direct aisle access, or in an angled seat in a 2-2-2 configuration.

How I booked my Ethiopian Airlines business class ticket

I paid for my Ethiopian Airlines ticket with cash. Cairo is known for its attractive premium fares, so I booked the following in business class for $1,034.27:

11/11 ET453 Cairo to Addis Ababa departing 2:20AM arriving 7:20AM
11/12 ET700 Addis Ababa to London departing 1:35AM arriving 6:35AM

Since I had a long layover in Addis Ababa, that fare even included a transit hotel during my layover.

So, why did I book this routing? Well, Ethiopian had just taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000, and I really wanted to fly it. With the plane scheduled to fly from Addis Ababa to London, I booked the most attractive fare that included that flight. But go figure in the end, both planes got swapped.

Initially I was supposed to fly a Boeing 787-9 from Cairo to Addis Ababa, and an Airbus A350-1000 from Addis Ababa to London. I ended up flying an Airbus A350-900 on both segments.

Ethiopian Airlines business class lounge & boarding

I had arrived the same afternoon from Rome in ITA Airways’ A321neo business class. I spent some time at the Le Meridien Cairo Airport to get some rest, and then returned to the airport for my Ethiopian Airlines flight to Addis Ababa.

If you’re curious how I spent my layover at Cairo Airport, just ask the Egyptian government, as they filmed the whole thing, and broadcast it on national TV. 😉

Ethiopian business class passengers have access to the EgyptAir Lounge at Cairo Airport, though I ended up using a couple of Priority Pass lounges, just to mix things up (which the government found highly suspicious!).

My flight was departing from gate G4, with boarding scheduled for 1:35AM, 45 minutes ahead of the departure time. At Cairo Airport, security is at each individual gate. I arrived at the gate area as it opened. However, when the gate agent found out I had a mobile boarding pass, he requested that I step aside until everyone else entered the gate area. That meant spending quite a bit of time queuing for security.

Boarding ended up starting at 2:05AM, and was rather chaotic, as is standard at Cairo Airport, as everyone rushes the gate door, regardless of what boarding group they’re in.

Ethiopian Airlines A350 business class cabin & seats

I boarded through the forward door, where I was greeted by the friendly Ethiopian Airlines crew, and pointed toward my seat. I was on an A350 with Ethiopian’s most common configuration. The business class cabin consisted of 30 seats, spread across five rows, in a 2-2-2 configuration.

Specifically, Ethiopian offers Collins Aerospace Diamond seats, which are among the most efficient fully flat seats out there, thanks to each seat having a footwell that’s to the side of the seat in front.

I assigned myself seat 5L, the window seat on the right side in the last row. It was a very light load in business class, with just 11 of the 30 seats occupied. I had the entire last row to myself.

As far as seat features go, the tray table folds out from the center console, and is a single, large table. So it’s not one of those trays you can fold over in half.

One downside to these seats (in addition to there not being direct aisle access) is the lack of storage. The only area where you can really place things is to the side of the seat and in the back, though it’s a small and exposed space.

This is also where you’ll find the USB-A outlet, headphone jacks, and entertainment controller.

The seat controls are located back on the center console, and are easy to use. There are two pre-sets (for the fully upright or fully reclined position), and you can otherwise adjust individual parts of the seat.

The AC power outlets are also located underneath the center armrest.

As mentioned above, the footwell in these seats can be quite tight, given that they’re located to the side of the seat in front. For a flight of this length it was perfect, but I don’t love these seats on ultra long haul flights, especially if traveling next to a stranger.

As you’d expect for an A350, the overhead consoles were modern, and while they had reading lights, they didn’t have individual air nozzles.

Ethiopian Airlines business class amenities

I was impressed by the selection of amenities offered in Ethiopian Airlines business class on this fairly short flight. For one, there were pillows and blankets at each seat.

While the airline isn’t about to win any awards for bedding, it was decent, and the same quality of bedding you’ll find on long haul flights. Thanks to the light load in business class, I was able to grab a couple of extra pillows, to get super comfortable.

There were also headphones at each seat. Again, they weren’t amazing, but they did the trick.

Upon boarding, the crew came around to distribute bottled water.

Shortly thereafter, warm towels were passed out.

Then shortly before the door closed, pre-departure drinks were served, with the choice of water, orange juice, or champagne. The airline does a really nice pre-departure service, whereby two crew members come around to serve drinks — one has a tray with glasses and non-alcoholic drinks, while the other holds a bottle of champagne, wrapped in a towel. So if you order champagne, it’s poured at your seat.

For what it’s worth, Ethiopian’s current business class champagne is Victoire Brut Prestige.

Lastly, menus (also containing the drink list) were distributed for the flight.

Amenity kits weren’t offered on this flight, though in the interest of being thorough, below is Ethiopian’s current business class amenity kit, available on longer flights.

Ethiopian Airlines A350 business class entertainment & Wi-Fi

Ethiopian Airlines has 17″ seat back entertainment monitors in its A350 business class, with audio and video on demand. The entertainment selection was reasonably good, but nothing amazing. There were roughly 200 movies, nearly 300 TV shows, and a variety of audio programming and games.

Then there was of course the map feature, which is my favorite part of any inflight entertainment system (well, unless there’s a tail camera, in which case that’s my favorite!). Speaking of tail cameras, unfortunately Ethiopian doesn’t offer that on its A350s, unlike some other airlines.

Ethiopian also offers Wi-Fi on its A350s, with okay speeds. As far as pricing goes, you can buy a one hour pass for $5, a two hour pass for $10, or a full flight pass for $25. Interestingly, that $25 pass also covers any connecting flights, but only if they’re operated by the A350.

On my connecting flight to London, I was actually given a voucher for free Wi-Fi. However, that wasn’t offered on this sector.

Ethiopian Airlines A350 departure from Cairo

Boarding wrapped up by 2:40AM, around 20 minutes behind schedule. While economy was mostly full, business class was only a little more than one third full. Two things stood out to me about the boarding process.

First of all, Ethiopian’s boarding music is painfully addictive, and very repetitive. Listen at your own risk, because you may be humming it for the rest of the day.

Second of all, the poor crew dealt with an unbelievable number of self upgraders on this flight. No fewer than a handful of people just came up and took business class seats. The crew knew which seats were supposed to be empty, and confronted the self upgraders. In each case, they had some defense that was obviously a lie, like “I was told I could sit here.” Right.

At 2:45AM, we began our pushback, at which point the somewhat quirky safety video was screened. Then at 2:50AM we began our taxi. It was a super short distance to the runway, and at 2:55AM we were cleared for takeoff on runway 5C.

We had a smooth climb out, and then the seatbelt sign was turned off about 10 minutes after takeoff. 20 minutes after takeoff, the captain made his welcome aboard announcement, advising us of our cruising altitude of 39,000 feet, and our anticipated 7AM arrival.

Ethiopian Airlines business class meal service

Once we reached our cruising altitude, the inflight service began. I was curious what the meal service would be like on this flight, given the odd timing. As it turned out, breakfast was served, and you can find the Ethiopian Airlines business class menu and drink list below (I was surprised by the size of the wine list).

I decided to order the ful medames, with chunk tomato and onion, and pita bread. This came with a side of cereal, fruit, and yogurt, plus a muffin. While the presentation wasn’t particularly inspiring, the main dish was quite good, I must say.

To drink, I had both a coffee and a glass of champagne. I know it’s a weird combination, but at 3AM I didn’t know which direction to go with drinks…

The crew working business class on this flight were quite good. I wouldn’t say they were overly friendly, or anything, but they were professional and quite attentive, and frequently walked around the cabin.

I also really like their uniforms. Some flight attendants wear more typical uniforms, which are green, and then some flight attendants wear more traditional Ethiopian clothing. It’s a fun combination. I would’ve felt creepy to ask for a picture, but below is an example that the airline posted on social media.

Immerse yourself in warmth and exceptional hospitality, making every journey truly unforgettable.#FlyEthiopian pic.twitter.com/Bj48wBkQsD

— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) January 31, 2025

Ethiopian Airlines A350 business class lavatory

After the meal, I checked out the business class lavatories. Ethiopian Airlines has two lavatories reserved for business class passengers at the front of the A350 cabin, right in front of row one. There’s one lavatory on each side. The lavatories were rather basic, with the only unique feature being the Ethiopian Airlines branded moisturizing lotion and “cologne.”

Ethiopian Airlines A350 business class bed

Once back at my seat, I decided to try to get some rest, and reclined my seat into the fully flat position. I found the bed to be quite comfortable, especially with the seat next to me empty, plus a couple of extra pillows.

I got nearly two hours of sleep, and woke shortly before we started our descent.

One thing that confused me is how the call button noise was constantly going off throughout the flight. Like, I’m not talking about a few times, but rather dozens, if not hundreds, of times. For the part of the flight I was awake, there wasn’t a 30-second interval where there wasn’t a chime. At some point I just got used to it.

I’m curious if that many people were actually pushing the call button, if it was glitching, or what?

Ethiopian Airlines A350 arrival in Addis Ababa

At 6:40AM, the captain was on the PA to announce that we’d be landing in around 25 minutes. Shortly thereafter, we started our descent — Addis Ababa Airport is at an altitude of 7,600+ feet, so the descent starts later than at other airports.

It was an absolutely glorious morning, so I loved the views out the window on approach.

Our landing ended up being delayed a bit, as we were vectored in a roundabout way due to traffic.

We ended up landing at Addis Ababa Airport at 7:20AM, on runway 7R.

From there we had a roughly 10 minute taxi to our arrival stand, where we pulled in at 7:30AM.

We arrived at a remote stand, as is all too common with Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa, given the carrier’s heavily banked network. On the plus side, that meant getting a great view of the aircraft while deplaning.

While there was a dedicated business class bus, they also let quite a few economy passengers onboard, so it wasn’t as comfortable as you’d expect, given that there were only 11 people in business class.

During the bus ride to the terminal, we had to hold in position as Ethiopian’s first Airbus A350-1000 taxied past us. Talk about a tease — that’s the plane I was supposed to fly, but it ended up operating a different route instead!

Once in the terminal, I headed to the transit desk, and then spent the day at the in-terminal hotel, which I’ll be reviewing in the next installment.

Bottom line

I had a solid flight in Ethiopian Airlines’ A350 business class. Ethiopian has comfortable seats on its A350s, especially if you get an empty seat next to you, and if you’re just on a regional flight (I’d be less excited if this were an ultra long haul flight, and I had a seat mate).

Beyond that, the amenities were pretty good, the food was tasty, and the crew was friendly. Ethiopian isn’t the best airline in the world, but the carrier gets the job done. Really the issue with Ethiopian is the constant plane swaps, and not knowing what kind of seat you’re going to get. That’s more of an issue with 787s than A350s, though, as the former partly have angled seats in business class.

What do you make of Ethiopian Airlines’ A350 business class?