Review: Ethiopian Airlines Business Lounge Addis Ababa Airport (ADD)

During my quick trip to Paris and Cairo, I had the chance to check out the Ethiopian Airlines Sheba Cloud Nine Lounge at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD). While that’s a mouthful, this is essentially the Star Alliance carrier’s primary hub business class lounge.

This was during my extended layover, where I also took advantage of the carrier’s transit hotel program, so I spent the day at the Ethiopian Skylight In-Terminal Hotel.

Honestly, I thought the lounge was reasonably good, with comfortable seating, an extensive food selection, and solid drinks. Admittedly this is all relative, because the terminal otherwise leaves a lot to be desired.

But here’s the issue, which is true of so many lounges — Ethiopian’s network is heavily banked, so you have virtually all flights arriving and departing around the same time. The lounge gets absolutely slammed during the short periods of the day where everyone travels through the airport. Then for the rest of the day, it’s a haven of tranquility, and is basically empty.

I should mention that adjacent to this lounge is the Ethiopian Airlines Sheba Platinum Star Alliance Gold Lounge, which is for (you guessed it) Star Alliance Gold passengers. Based on my understanding, it’s nearly identical, the goal is just to spread out traffic a bit.

Ethiopian Airlines Lounge Addis Ababa location

The Ethiopian Airlines Business Lounge is located in Terminal 2, across from gate A13. If you’re in transit, you’ll need to clear security first, and then go up a level. The terminal has one main stretch, so when you’re near gate A13, you can’t miss the entrance to the lounge.

Ethiopian Airlines Lounge Addis Ababa hours

The Ethiopian Airlines Business Lounge is open 24/7, so you never have to worry about whether it’ll be open or not. The lounge gets the busiest during the two peak banks, which are early in the morning (around 6-10AM) and then late at night (around 8PM-12AM).

Ethiopian Airlines Lounge Addis Ababa entry requirements

The Ethiopian Airlines Business Lounge follows standard Star Alliance lounge access rules. It’s open to all Star Alliance business class passengers, and no complimentary guests are allowed.

If you have Star Alliance Gold status, you can use the nearby Ethiopian Airlines Sheba Platinum Star Alliance Gold Lounge, and are allowed to bring a guest.

Ethiopian Airlines Lounge Addis Ababa seating & layout

The Ethiopian Airlines Business Lounge is quite large, and is broken up into several sections. So let’s take a look, starting with what you’d see when you first enter the lounge. There’s a long hallway that takes you through most of the lounge, with the space at the very end of this hallway being by far the largest.

As you enter the lounge and immediately across from reception is what’s supposed to be a traditional Ethiopian coffee setup. While I appreciate the concept of adding something that reflects the local culture, it seems this space is almost never used, since it’s not like the seating is that comfortable or functional. You’d think the space would be better utilized by having more functional seating, to help with crowding.

Then to the right is a room with a bunch of seating, with everything from cafe-style tables, to communal tables with high-top seating, to booths.

The next section is a bar, which also has counter seating. There’s one other bar deeper into the lounge, but this is the larger of the two. There are also some tables around the bar area.

Across from the bar is another seating area, for extra capacity.

Then the very back of the lounge is the largest space, and it’s also the area that has the most natural light and views (interestingly it faces the city, rather than the airport). This area also has a variety of seating options, ranging from dining tables, to chairs arranged in rows facing one another, to chairs with ottomans facing outside.

This area is also where the second bar is, which is perhaps prettier than the other bar, but not as big.

There are a couple more rooms off this back space. For one, there’s a relaxation area, with around half a dozen daybeds. It’s nice that this is in a separate room with a door. However, I wouldn’t expect to get much sleep here, given the lack of bedding and people presumably frequently walking in and out.

There’s also an entertainment room, with nearly two dozen seats facing a (not very large)TV.

Now, there are a few other amenities in the lounge worth mentioning, also located along the hallway. For one, there’s a space with several massage chairs, which guests are welcome to use, on a first come, first served basis.

There’s also a small smoking room — I wouldn’t expect to leisurely puff on a cigar here in luxury, but I guess it’s useful for those who need a quick cigarette fix.

Then there’s a play room for children.

There’s also a prayer area.

In the above pictures, you might notice that a lot of the bar and buffet areas aren’t set up. That’s because I took pictures during one of the non-peak periods. They really only set things up everywhere during the busy periods, and otherwise most of the buffet and bar areas stay empty.

Ethiopian Airlines Lounge Addis Ababa food & drinks

The Ethiopian Airlines Business Lounge has a pretty extensive food selection, including both Ethiopian and international dishes. The main buffet is located in the back of the lounge in the main room, and all food is self-serve.

One part of the buffet has cold dishes, with things like a salad bar, smoked salmon, fresh fruit, mini cakes, muffins, pastries, etc.

Then there’s an area with hot dishes, which included things like doro wot (Ethiopian chicken stew), brown & white enjera, shrimp with olive oil and garlic, grilled chicken breast with peach and apple sauce, beef steak, and more.

Fridges throughout the lounge had soda (Coke products), beer, bottled water, and more.

Then there was a setup with coffee and tea. Ethiopia is known for its coffee, and while the lounge doesn’t have barista coffee, it was some of the better machine coffee that I’ve had.

Wine and cocktails were available from either of the bars, and the choices were displayed, so that people knew what was available.

Ethiopian Airlines Lounge Addis Ababa bathrooms & showers

The Ethiopian Airlines Business Lounge has bathrooms, which are functional, but not particularly luxurious. The men’s room had roughly half a dozen sinks, urinals, and toilet stalls.

The lounge also offers showers, though you’ll also want to manage your expectations here, as these are some of the less luxurious “flagship” business class lounge shower facilities I’ve seen.

The shower rooms are quite small, each with a sink, toilet, and walk-in shower. When I peeked in, it just didn’t look very appealing — there were a bunch of flies in one of the rooms, and it just looked like a muggy mess.

Bottom line

The Ethiopian Airlines Business Lounge Addis Ababa isn’t about to win any awards, but it’s also not a bad lounge. That’s especially true in comparison to the terminal, which is particularly not nice. The lounge has decent decor, several seating options, and a pretty extensive selection of food and drinks.

The biggest downside to the lounge, as I see it, is how busy it gets during peak hours, and that’s the experience a vast majority of customers have. Of course that’s true at just about all lounges nowadays, as banked schedules are a standard industry practice. However, perhaps Addis Ababa’s traffic flows are even more extreme than at many other airports.

What’s your take on the Ethiopian Airlines Business Lounge Addis Ababa?