Africa: Ethiopian Airlines Sale from Madrid Starting at €422 (Incl. 2×23 Kg Hold Luggage)

Star Alliance Member Ethiopian Airlines, is resuming flights from Ethiopia to Madrid on December 9 with prices that will bring you back to 2019 when travel was a bit more affordable.

We have found deals starting at €422, with a baggage allowance of 2 x 23 kg for checked luggage, ideal for bringing donations to an NGO.

Of all the destinations offered, these are the ones that have caught our attention the most:

• Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at €422
• Johannesburg, South Africa at €506
• Cape Town, South Africa at €513
• Zanzibar at €534
• Malabo, Equatorial Guinea at €535
• Mahe, Seychelles €556
• Antananarivo, Madagascar at €688

Our availability calendar highlights all possible flight dates at the lowest price for trips up to 28 days. It will forward you to our Travel Dealz search engine with your selected flight dates.

From Madrid to Addis Ababa you will fly on the A350-900XWB on the outbound leg with a technical stop in Rome to pick up more passengers. The aircraft has an economy class configuration of 3-3-3. If you continue beyond Ethiopia, depending on your flight, you might end up on a Boeing 777 or Boeing 787 with a 3-3-3 cabin, or on certain routes, you may be on the Boeing 767 with a 2-3-2 cabin or a Boeing 737 with a 3-3 cabin. As you can see, Ethiopian has economy class cabins with more space than other airlines that will cram you into a 777 with a 3-4-3 configuration.

Book & Search

If you want to take advantage of this deal, you should book before April 29, 2024 but the deal might expire earlier. The minimum stay for this fare is 4 days, with a maximum of 30 days. There are plenty of dates for this deal throughout the year except for summer vacations.

You can use Google Flights (instructions) to find available dates quickly and easily. The flights can be booked directly through Ethiopian Airlines‘s website, but they can also be found on OTAs for less money than on the airline’s website. However, these savings will come with some downsides, as we explain here:

Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?

More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:

Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.

If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.

This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.

Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.

This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.

Mileage

The tickets are issued by Ethiopian Airlines in T booking class. Here is what you will earn for your flight from Madrid to Johannesburg:

Cover Picture: Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash