Getting There
The national carrier Ethiopian Airlines ranks among the oldest and most respected airlines in Africa. It also offers the continent’s most extensive flight network, with international routings connecting Addis Ababa to more than 90 cities outside Ethiopia, as well as 20 domestic destinations. For a complete list of international and domestic offices and call centers, see www.ethiopianairlines.com. European destinations serviced by Ethiopian Airlines include London, Brussels, Dublin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Rome, Stockholm and Vienna. It also operates flights to three North American cities, namely Los Angeles, Toronto and Washington DC, as well as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. The national carrier also operates flights between Addis Ababa and several destinations in the Middle East and Asia, including Bahrain, Bangkok, Beijing, Beirut, Dubai, Doha, Delhi, Demmam, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait, Manila, Mumbai, Muscat, Sana’a, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tel Aviv and Tokyo.
Ethiopian Airlines operates the most extensive international network servicing Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. Cities flown to include Abidjan, Abuja, Accra, Bamako, Bangui, Berbera, Blantyre, Brazzaville, Bujumbura, Cairo, Cape Town, Cotonou, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Djibouti, Douala, Entebbe, Enugu, Gaborone, Goma, Harare, Hargeisa, Johannesburg, Juba, Kano, Khartoum, Kigali, Kilimanjaro (between Moshi and Arusha), Kinshasa, Lagos, Libreville, Lilongwe, Lome, Luanda, Lubumbashi, Lusaka, Malabo, Malakal, Maputo, Mombasa, N’Djamena, Nairobi, Ndola, Niamey, Ouagadougou, Pointe-Noire, Seychelles and Zanzibar.
Other airlines that fly to Addis Ababa include;
-Air China (www.airchina.com)
-Egyptair (www.egyptair.com)
-Emirates (www.emirates.com)
Fly Dubai (www.flydubai.com)
Gulf Air (www.gulfair.com)
-Kenya Airways (www.kenya-airways.com)
-Lufthansa (www.lufthansa.com)
-Saudi Airlines (www.saudiairlines.com), -
-Sudan Airways (www.sudanair.com)
-Turkish-Airlines (www.turkishairlines.com) &
Yemenia (www.yemenia.com).
-In addition, KLM (www.klm.com) operates a code share with Kenya Airways, and South African Airways (www.flysaa.com) code shares with Ethiopian Airlines.
All international flights arrive and depart from Bole International Airport on the outskirts of central Addis Ababa.
Visa [&] Immigration requirements Register https://www.evisa.gov.et/
Apply https://www.evisa.gov.et/
Check Status https://www.evisa.gov.et/
Ethiopia Visa applications may be obtained at Ethiopia’s diplomatic missions overseas. However, nationals of 33 countries are now allowed to receive their tourist visas on arrival in Ethiopia at the regular charges.
Ethiopia’s popularity as a holiday destination continues to grow. It is a truly breathtaking country and ideal for safari and wildlife-lovers. Thankfully getting there has never been easier. There are 2 types of visas for tourists which are also very easy to obtain: the visa on arrival and the eVisa. Many nationalities are eligible for the visas on arrival which can only be secured at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.
What is the Ethiopian Visa on Arrival?
The visa on arrival is a type of travel authorization which can be obtained at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport after visitors arrive in Ethiopia. There’s no need to go to an embassy or consulate to complete a visa application beforehand. The visas on arrival are valid for up to 3 months and allow one entry into the country. This means they cannot be used to leave and reenter Ethiopia. Many travelers prefer to apply for an Ethiopia eVisa before their trip to save the hassle of queueing at the border after a long flight. The application only takes a few minutes to complete so it saves time in the long run.
Who Can Get a Visa on Arrival for Ethiopia?
There are a large number of nationalities who are eligible for the Ethiopia visa on arrival (see list below). Citizens of Kenya and Djibouti can enter visa-free.
Ethiopian Visa on Arrival for African Countries Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Ethiopian Visa on Arrival for Asian Countries
China, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Macau, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand.
Ethiopian Visa on Arrival for European Countries
Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
Ethiopian Visa on Arrival for North American Countries
Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Ethiopian Visa on Arrival for South American Countries
Argentina and Brazil.
Ethiopian Visa on Arrival for Oceanic Countries
Australia and New Zealand.
How to Apply for a Visa on Arrival?
To obtain a visa on arrival from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport visitors need to queue at one of the kiosks at the airport to complete the application. Applicants need to bring 2 passport photos with them. It’s also necessary to pay a fee for the visa. In some cases, evidence of sufficient funds to cover the trip may be required. A bank statement is adequate proof of this. Visas on arrival can also be issued to visitors with a letter of invitation for a meeting, seminar, or workshop organized by the African Union participants of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. It is necessary to provide the letter as verification.
The Ethiopian e-Visa: the Alternative to the Visa on Arrival To save the hassle of queuing and applying for a visa on arrival at the border, you can apply online for an Ethiopia e-Visa in advance. All nationalities are eligible for the e-Visa and the application only takes a few minutes.
You also have the choice between a 30-day or a 90-day visa if you wish to stay longer. Like the visa on arrival, the e-Visas can only be used at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport to gain entry.
To apply for the eVisa, you just need to enter information such as your name, address, date of birth, passport details, and travel plans. You also need to pay a fee using a credit or debit card.
Best Time to Travel to Ethiopia
The best time to visit Ethiopia; Ethiopia can be visited at any time of year, but different seasons have different advantages. Conventional wisdom is that visitors should avoid the rainy season, which usually starts in June, but peaks over July and August in the central and northern highlands. Certainly, highland towns such as Gondar, Lalibela and Addis Ababa can be very damp and cool during the rains. That aside, however, recent improvements in the northern circuit’s road network makes the rains far less of an obstacle to travel than would have been the case few years ago. The countryside is also very green and scenic during the rains, and you’ll encounter fewer tourists at popular sites such as Lalibela.
The late rainy season, from September through to early October, is a lovely time of year. There’s a significant drop in precipitation over this period, but the countryside is very green, and punctuated by yellow meskel wild flowers. On 27 September (a day later in leap years), Ethiopia erupts into festival mode to celebrate Meskel, which commemorates the finding of the True Cross more than 1600 years ago.
Arguably the optimum time to visit Ethiopia is from mid-October to January, when the rains are over but the country side is still quite green. This is also the peak tourist season, so facilities and sites of interest tend to be busier than at other times. It is well worth aiming to be in Lalibela or Gondar for Timkat (Ethiopian Epiphany), another wonderfully colorful celebration held on 19 January (except on leap years).
The late dry season, from February to May, is also a good time to visit, though the scenery tends to become dryer and browner towards the end of this period, except in the far south where the first rains often fall as early as April.
Wildlife can be observed throughout the year, but the European winter – November to March – is particularly rewarding for birders, as resident species are supplemented by large numbers of Palearctic migrants.
Health [&] Safety
Ethiopia is a safe and reasonably healthy country provided you take a few common sense precautions.
Ensure your inoculations for typhoid, tetanus, polio and hepatitis A are up to date, mainly if you are traveling out of the capital or you will stay away from the largest hotels
Anti-malarial prophylactics should be taken if you’ll be visiting low-lying moist regions such as the southern Rift Valley and South Omo. There is also a small risk of malaria, especially during the rainy season, at mid-altitude sites such as Bahir Dar and Harar. Malaria is all but absent above 2000m, for instance in Addis Ababa, Gondar, Lalibela and the Bale and Simien mountains.
Avoid drinking or brushing your teeth with tap water. Bottled water is safe and widely available.
Its a good idea to carry a few packs of antiseptic wet wipes to wash your hands after toilet stops or before meals in more remote areas where running water may not be available.
Ethiopia is a safe and politically stable country, though there may be some risk attached to travel in remote border areas with more volatile neighbors such as Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and South Sudan. None of these areas is likely to be visited on a normal tour.
Pickpockets and con artists proliferate in central Addis Ababa but are not a serious cause for concern elsewhere in the country Its a good idea to carry a few packs of antiseptic wet wipes to wash your hands after toilet stops or before meals in more remote areas where running water may not be available.