Not so Fast: Ethiopian to Reopen Los Angeles-to-Addis Ababa Route

Oct. 18, 2018

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2 min read

Not so Fast: Ethiopian to Reopen Los Angeles-to-Addis Ababa Route

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Just a day after news broke that Ethiopian Airlines was ending its fifth freedom route between Los Angeles (LAX) and Addis Ababa (ADD) via Dublin (DUB), the airline has decided to reopen the route.

As reported by Routes Online, Ethiopian reopened reservations for the LAX-DUB-ADD route for travel on and after Dec. 16, 2018. As of that date, Ethiopian will resume with 4x weekly LAX-DUB-ADD service using its Boeing 787-8 aircraft.

However, when the route reopens in December, Ethiopian will not have local traffic rights on the Dublin to Los Angeles sector. The flight will operate on the following schedule:

ET504 Addis Ababa (ADD) 1am Departure ⇒ Dublin (DUB) 6:30am; 7:30am Departure ⇒ Los Angeles (LAX) 10:15am Arrival
ET505 Los Angeles (LAX) 11:30pm Departure ⇒ Dublin (DUB) 5:30pm (+1) Arrival; 6:30pm (+1) Departure ⇒ Addis Ababa (ADD) 5:20am (+2) Arrival

The LAX-ADD route is best known among AvGeeks for its stop in Dublin with pickup privileges, which allows passengers to travel between California and Ireland on one of TPG's favorite fifth freedom routes (No. 8 on this list). The unique transatlantic Dreamliner route was a popular option for traveling in lie-flat business class on a Star Alliance partner.

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