Ethiopian Airlines (IATA ET) is a full-service carrier based in Ethiopia, a member of the Star Alliance alliance. Across the corridors catalogued here it flies 46 routes from African airports, reaching 23 destinations in 23 countries, with home hubs at Addis Ababa (ADD). Most of these are intra-Africa and Gulf-hub business corridors. Its standard checked-baggage baseline is 23 kg, lifted by about 5 kg on diaspora and migrant-worker corridors, and Ethiopian Airlines runs dedicated Hajj and Umrah charters.
At a glance
43 catalogued corridors on this site are flown by Ethiopian Airlines (ET), a full-service carrier based in Ethiopia and a member of Star Alliance, with a 23 kg checked-baggage baseline.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| IATA code | ET |
| Home country | Ethiopia |
| Alliance | Star Alliance |
| Carrier type | full-service |
| Checked-baggage baseline | 23 kg |
| Diaspora / migrant baggage uplift | +5 kg |
| Hajj / Umrah charter service | Yes |
The 23 kg figure describes what Ethiopian Airlines advertises as standard in economy, not what any given ticket carries. Discounted fare families sit beneath it, and those are disproportionately the fares that set record-low cached prices. The allowance printed on the issued itinerary is the only one the check-in desk will honour.
Our notes record a possible diaspora or migrant-worker baggage uplift of about +5 kg for Ethiopian Airlines — an unverified figure, so confirm any extra allowance with the airline before you pack for it. Read it as a corridor-specific promotion: uplifts of this kind attach to nominated routes and fare families, are rarely honoured on a codeshare or interline segment operated by another airline, and usually exclude the deepest-discount buckets. Treat it as unconfirmed until your own booking class shows it.
Routes Ethiopian Airlines flies from Africa — 46 corridors
43 corridors covered on this site are flown by Ethiopian Airlines, reaching 22 destinations and totalling about 350 weekly departures, with block times from 0.5 h to 13.0 h. This is the African-outbound catalogue, not the airline’s global network.
| Route | Freq/wk | Block (h) | Market low (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Nairobi (NBO) | ~35 | ~4.0 | — |
| Nairobi (NBO) → Addis Ababa (ADD) | ~28 | ~2.0 | $411 |
| Addis Ababa (ADD) → Jeddah (JED) | ~21 | ~3.0 | $136 |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Addis Ababa (ADD) | ~21 | ~5.5 | $591 |
| Entebbe (EBB) → Addis Ababa (ADD) | ~14 | ~2.5 | $293 |
| Kigali (KGL) → Addis Ababa (ADD) | ~14 | ~2.5 | — |
| Addis Ababa (ADD) → Dubai (DXB) | ~14 | ~4.0 | $200 |
| Dar es Salaam (DAR) → Addis Ababa (ADD) | ~14 | ~2.5 | — |
| Addis Ababa (ADD) → Washington (IAD) | ~7 | ~13.0 | $821 |
| Lagos (LOS) → Nairobi (NBO) | ~7 | ~5.5 | $712 |
| Nairobi (NBO) → Mogadishu (MGQ) | ~7 | ~2.0 | — |
| Dar es Salaam (DAR) → Zanzibar (ZNZ) | ~7 | ~0.5 | $79 |
| Lagos (LOS) → Abidjan (ABJ) | ~7 | ~1.8 | $535 |
| Addis Ababa (ADD) → London (LHR) | ~7 | ~7.5 | — |
| Lagos (LOS) → Jeddah (JED) | ~7 | ~8.5 | $909 |
| Casablanca (CMN) → Abidjan (ABJ) | ~7 | ~5.5 | $858 |
| Harare (HRE) → Addis Ababa (ADD) | ~7 | ~3.5 | $494 |
| Addis Ababa (ADD) → Juba (JUB) | ~7 | ~1.8 | — |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Kinshasa (FIH) | ~7 | ~4.0 | — |
| Johannesburg (JNB) → Accra (ACC) | ~7 | ~6.5 | $592 |
The USD market-low column is the cheapest fare our Travelpayouts cache has seen on that corridor across all carriers, not a Ethiopian Airlines-only price; use it as a floor when comparing.
Passenger compensation rights
Ethiopian Airlines touches EU/EEA airports, so a 3 h+ delay or cancellation on a flight departing the EU is claimable under EU261 regardless of your passport — eligibility follows the operating carrier and the departure airport, not nationality.
| Regime | When it applies | Remedy for a long delay / cancellation |
|---|---|---|
| EU261 | Any departure from an EU/EEA airport (CDG, FRA, AMS, BRU, LIS, MAD, ATH), any airline. | €250 (≤1,500 km), €400 (1,500–3,500 km) or €600 (>3,500 km) for a 3 h+ arrival delay or a cancellation within the airline’s control, plus meals and a hotel where needed. |
| UK261 | Departures from a UK airport (LHR, MAN), any airline. | £220, £350 or £520 by distance, mirroring EU261, for a 3 h+ delay or cancellation within the airline’s control. |
| Saudi GACA | Flights to or from Saudi Arabia (JED, MED, RUH). | Duty of care, rebooking or a full refund, and compensation for cancellations and long delays within the airline’s control under GACA’s passenger-protection rules. |
| US DOT | Flights to or from the United States. | No cash compensation for delays; an automatic refund is due for cancellations and significant schedule changes you decline (US DOT 2024 rule). |
| Montreal Convention 1999 | Any international itinerary — baggage and delay losses. | Compensation for lost, damaged or delayed baggage (up to 1,519 SDR per passenger) and for provable losses caused by delay (up to 6,303 SDR), limits in force since 28 December 2024. |
When Ethiopian Airlines is the right choice
43 catalogued corridors is the practical scope of this decision: Ethiopian Airlines is worth choosing where it flies your corridor nonstop, where its 23 kg baseline beats the alternative, and where Star Alliance earning matters to you. Compare the block-time column, not only the price column.
You should choose Ethiopian Airlines for its included 23 kg allowance and through-checked bags on connecting itineraries; diaspora and migrant-worker travellers gain from the ~5 kg extra-baggage uplift; pilgrims can book its dedicated Hajj and Umrah charter product; frequent flyers earn and burn across the Star Alliance network. Compare it against the other carriers on each corridor in the route table above before booking Ethiopian Airlines.
The honest counter-case first. A single carrier is rarely the right answer on every corridor, and on a route where Ethiopian Airlines connects while a competitor flies nonstop, the competitor usually wins on total elapsed time even at a higher fare. Compare the block-time column, not just the price column, on each corridor page — the difference between a nonstop and a one-stop routing on this site’s long-haul corridors is regularly eight hours or more.
FAQ
What is Ethiopian Airlines’s checked baggage allowance? Ethiopian Airlines’s checked-baggage baseline is 23 kg, normally included in its standard fares.
Is Ethiopian Airlines part of an airline alliance? Ethiopian Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance alliance.
What kind of airline is Ethiopian Airlines? Ethiopian Airlines (ET) is a full-service carrier from Ethiopia.
How many routes does Ethiopian Airlines fly from Africa? Ethiopian Airlines operates 46 routes from African airports catalogued here — see the list above; each links to a route guide.
Can I claim compensation on a Ethiopian Airlines flight? Yes, on flights departing the EU/EEA. A 3 h+ arrival delay or cancellation within Ethiopian Airlines’s control pays €250–€600 by distance under EU261, whatever your nationality.
What is the cheapest route Ethiopian Airlines flies from Africa? The lowest cached fare on a corridor flown by Ethiopian Airlines in our weekly snapshot was about $79 on Dar es Salaam–Zanzibar (DAR-ZNZ) — a dated observation, not a current price; prices move with season, so search live fares before booking.
Sources
5 primary sources cited on this page are regulator and government material, not secondary summaries. Each is listed with what it actually governs, so a claim on this page can be checked against the instrument it comes from. Where a value is missing from our own data we leave the cell blank rather than estimate it.
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EU261 — Regulation 261/2004 — the consolidated text of Regulation 261/2004 itself — the compensation amounts, the distance bands and the extraordinary-circumstances defence.
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UK261 — UK Civil Aviation Authority — the UK regulator’s passenger pages, which set out the UK261 amounts and the complaint escalation route after the airline’s own reply.
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Saudi GACA — passenger protection — the Saudi regulator, whose passenger-protection rules govern care, rebooking, refunds and compensation on flights to and from the Kingdom.
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US DOT — air-consumer protections — US DOT’s air-consumer pages — the automatic-refund rule, and the absence of any statutory delay compensation.
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AirHelp — flight-compensation claims — a commercial claims service, cited as the industry explainer alongside the regulator rather than instead of it.
Related
- Addis Ababa airport (ADD) — Bole International, Ethiopia: 13 catalogued departure corridors and 6 arrival corridors.
- Flights to Angola — country landing page: 2 catalogued corridors from African airports, carriers, visa row and the USD fare floor we have on file.
- Flights to Belgium — country landing page: 4 catalogued corridors from African airports, carriers, visa row and the USD fare floor we have on file.
On African corridors the useful alternative is frequently a different gateway or a different airline, not a different city.