Ethiopian Airlines Selling 30-Minute Connection Time In Addis

Intro

Over my travels around the world, I have made some pretty tight connections, on flights I probably should have missed. However, while scrolling today, I came across a connection that Ethiopian Airlines is selling, which might just be absurdity. Having flown quite a bit into Addis Ababa, I wonder how this is feasible...

The Details

According to the Ethiopian Airlines website, the official minimum connection time is 45 minutes when transiting from an Ethiopian flight to another Ethiopian flight.

Well, I was planning my next trip to Africa, and saw this itinerary being sold directly through Ethiopian Airlines:

ET515: Lome-Addis Ababa departing at 1:00 pm and arriving at 9:25 pm

ET963: Addis Ababa-Douala departing at 9:55 pm and arriving at 12:25 am (+1 day)

I recently got to fly the A350-1000, which was an interesting experience.

Having transited in Addis Ababa more times than I shall please, I understand that business class passengers can do this pretty seamlessly, but economy can take quite a while, depending on the time of day. Do you know what time of day is the worst? The evening time...

Anyways, rant over, my point is that I thought that maybe ET was only selling J passengers this connection, but I was wrong; economy is being sold this 30-minute connection as well.

I am baffled

Is This Connection Possible To Make?

I am curious to hear everyone else's thoughts on this matter. Do you think this connection is possible to make?

Picture this:

• You arrive at a remote gate from Lome, on time (which is usually delayed by 30+ minutes).

• You have to make your way onto the bus and head to the terminal.

• You have to head through security, which can easily take 5-10 minutes.

• You then have to walk back to your other gate, which can take 5-10 mins.

• Boarding closes 10 minutes prior to departure.

I gotta say, you better be Usain Bolt to make this work 😅

Final Thoughts

Okay, sorry for making this post, as the concept is a bit weird. I guess the moral of the story here is not to book a 30-minute connection in Addis Ababa, even if the airline is selling it. I suppose the airline would actually end up rebooking you for free the next day, and probably put you up at the Skylight. There are worse ways to spend the night...