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I'm hoping to fly this long-haul multi-hop trip to reach San Diego on the west coast of the USA from Tokyo, Japan by flying westward. I have an Indian passport, Japanese residence card and valid US visa. I am ready to book it ONLY if there is no need to visit embassies to get a stamp/authorization, as a "transit visa" might be required.

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But before I book it, I want to make sure that all I need to do is book the tickets, pay the price and take my passport and residence card along when traveling.

I used timatic via http://cms.olympicair.com/timatic/webdocsI/spdbmainv.html

Transit points are Hong Kong, Ethiopia and Ireland.

Please help me understand the tansit without visa (TWOV) rules at Addis Ababa (ADD).

Am I eligible to transit at ADD while flying from HKG to Dublin, Ireland, considering that both HKG and DUB are themselves transit points for my journey?

Why I am worried/why is it unclear to me?

Please note the layovers are 16 and 15 hours respectively. The arrival and departure dates differ (by 5 minutes, oh god) on the westward leg but not on the return eastward leg.

Timatic says:

Visa required, except for Passengers with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight to a third country within 12 hours. They must stay in the international transit area of the airport and have documents required for the next destination.

Visa Issuance: Visa required, except for Passengers can obtain a transit visa at Addis Ababa (ADD) if transit exceeds 12 hours and if they have confirmation that a visa has been approved before departure by Ethiopian Airlines. The maximum transit time is of 24 hours.

In my case, I have no documents (visa) for the next destination (DUB, Ireland). I guess I need to apply for some kind of Ethiopian transit visa before departure by Ethiopian airlines. Do they charge any fees for that?

The page at https://www.ethiopianairlines.com/AA/EN/information/essential/visa_and_immigration_requirements says:

Visas are required for all foreign visitors to Ethiopia

and

nationals of 36 countries are now allowed to receive their tourist visas on arrival in Ethiopia at the regular charge.

The list contains India. So, would I be charged? How much? Do Ihave to pay twice, one for each leg?

What is the guarantee that I will be granted one? What if my application is rejected, will the airline refund my flight cost?

I made an assumption there that I need to apply for a transit visa by asking Ethiopian airlines to arrange it for me, and that this can be only done after making a booking. So it's a deadlock, whether I should make the booking first or apply for transit visa separately (chicken or egg).

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  • @Doc please offer a constructive solution if you can. Those dates are a dummy btw. if that's why you talk about mental state. it's just that i want to try it, it makes me feel as if it were a round-the-world (RTW) trip. besides, this is what matrix/itasoftware came up with. as you can see, its just 3 flights in each direction, hong kong and dublin are like technical stops, same flight code, same aircraft.
    – computingfreak
    Dec 29, 2017 at 21:30
  • @computingfreak I suggest to split your post into multiple as you have many different questions there (transit for ADD? transit for DUB? Enough time?) - as this would allow it to be answered by different people with relevant expertise.
    – George Y.
    Dec 29, 2017 at 22:42
  • @GeorgeY. thanks i cleaned it up focusing on transit without visa at addis ababa only now.
    – computingfreak
    Dec 29, 2017 at 22:56
  • I'm curious, why the overly complex and very long trip with multiple stops, some of them very long, where there are direct flights from NRT to LAX, and even from NRT to SAN? What's the point of flying westward? Just to make a point?
    – jcaron
    Dec 30, 2017 at 0:00
  • @jcaron Just because that might be the cheapest option available. Try it on matrix/itasoftware yourself. For those dates you're search result shall match. Besides, why not fly westward instead of transpacific? One might get an opportunity to explore inexperienced cultures during the layovers, such as Addis Ababa, which I didn't even know the geographic location of until I came across the hop point.
    – computingfreak
    Dec 30, 2017 at 10:34

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In my case, i have no documents (visa) for the next destination (DUB, Ireland)

You do have the documents. DUB is your transit destination, and you have required documents for transit (i.e. passport, onward ticket and US visa for TWOV). Please note it is "have documents required for the next destination", not "have documents required to be admitted into the next destination country".

so, I'd be charged? how much?

Ethiopian Airlines claim to help with this visa. There are no mentions of charges, and this thread further confirms there are no charges:

Upon arrival at Addis Ababa aiport, I was given a transit visa on the Ethiopian airline connecting flight counter and stamp on my hotel voucher (no fee required)

As a side note, the airline even provides the free hotel and transit for long layovers.

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