( of
Lebanon , based in
Beirut . It operates scheduled international services in the
Middle East ,
Europe and
Africa . It is based at
Rafic Hariri International Airport .
Middle East Airlines (MEA) is a member of the
Arab Air Carriers Organization and the
International Air Transport Association .
They will be joining the
SkyTeam Alliance as an associate member in 2007.
The Middle East Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:
The airline was founded on
31 May 1945 by
Saeb Salam , with the initial operational and technical support by
BOAC , along with three de Havilland DH.89A Rapides. Operations started on
1 January 1946 with a service between
Beirut and
Nicosia , followed by flights to
Iraq ,
Egypt ,
Syria , and
Cyprus . Two
Douglas DC-3 s were acquired in mid-1946.
Pan Am acquired a stake and management contract in September
1949 .
Pan Am were replaced when BOAC acquired 49% of MEA's shares in
1955 . A
Vickers Viscount was introduced in October 1955 while an
Avro York cargo aircraft was leased in June
1957 . On
December 15 1960 , the first of four
De Havilland Comet 4Bs arrived. After the association with BOAC ended on
16 August ,
1961 , MEA was merged with
Air Liban on
7 June 1963 which gave
Air France a 30% holding, since relinquished. The full title was then Middle east Airlines Air Liban. In 1963 it also took over Lebanese International Airways. The fleet was modernised with the addition of three
Sud Aviation Caravelle s, in April
1963 ; three
Boeing 720B s, in January
1966 ; one leased
Vickers VC-10 , in March
1967 ; and a number of
Boeing 707-320C s, from November
1967 .
Its present title was adopted in November 1965 when the airline was completely merged with Air Liban. Although operations were interrupted by the
1967 Arab-Israeli War , MEA restarted by acquiring a
Convair CV-990A from
American Airlines , which entered service on
June 24 1969 . A
Boeing 747-200B entered service in June
1975 on the Beirut -
London route. Operations were interrupted again until
1990 , until the political situation stabilised.
Airbus A310-300 s were acquired in
1993 and
1994 , followed by an
A321-200 and an
A330-200 , (which replaced the A310s). The airline was restructured in
2001 . It is majority owned by the
Central Bank Of Lebanon (99.37%) and employs 2,310 staff.
Middle East Airlines (MEAS) has numerous plans for the coming few years.
This year, the airline is planning to introduce self check-in kiosks at Beirut's
Rafic Hariri International Airport and launch the
Arabesk regional alliance with six other Arab carriers.
They will be floating 10 to 20% of their shares in the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) this summer as part of long-term plans to fully privatize the airline.
The airline announced in December 2005 that it will be expanding its fleet by acquiring an
Airbus aircraft in 2007 and another one in 2008. The types however have been unspecified, but at least one of them is expected to be an A330-200 to be used to upgrade the Paris service from daily A321 and daily A330 to twice daily A330s.
The airline also is planning to acquire 50 to 70 seat regional jet aircraft to be used on regional routes. The types have not been decided yet, but the
Bombardier CRJ-700 and the
Embraer ERJ-170 are likely candidates.
In 2007, the airline will be joining the
SkyTeam Alliance as an associate member through its partner
Air France .
Middle East Airlines operates services to the following international scheduled destinations:
Abidjan ,
Abu Dhabi ,
Accra ,
Amman ,
Athens ,
Cairo ,
Copenhagen (seasonal),
Dammam ,
Dubai ,
Düsseldorf (seasonal),
Frankfurt ,
Geneva ,
Istanbul ,
Jeddah ,
Kano ,
Kuwait ,
Lagos ,
Larnaca ,
London ,
Milan ,
Nice (seasonal),
Riyadh ,
Rome and
Sharm El Sheikh (seasonal).
Middle East Airlines (MEA) fully owns the following subsidiaries, although they are operated independently.
::The only fully-fledged aircraft maintenance provider in Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport specialized in maintaining Airbus aircraft. The company is PART 145 certified which allows it to carry maintenance on European registered aircraft. Main clients include Cyprus Airways .
