Middle East Airlines
From Open Encyclopedia
| Image:MEA.gif | ||
| Middle East Airlines | ||
|---|---|---|
| IATA ME | ICAO MEA | Callsign Cedar Jet |
| Founded | 1945 | |
| Hubs | Rafic Hariri International Airport | |
| Focus cities / secondary hubs | ||
| Frequent flyer program | Cedar Miles | |
| Member lounge | Cedar Lounge | |
| Alliance | ||
| Fleet size | 9 | |
| Destinations | 26 | |
| Parent company | Middle East Airlines / Air Liban SAL | |
| Headquarters | Beirut, Lebanon | |
| Key people | Mohammed El-Hout (CEO) | |
| Website: http://www.mea.com.lb | ||
Middle East Airlines (Arabic: طيران الشرق الأوسط) is the national flag-carrier airline 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.
Contents |
Fleet
The Middle East Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:
History
Image:Mea.arp.750pix.jpg 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-3s 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 Caravelles, in April 1963; three Boeing 720Bs, in January 1966; one leased Vickers VC-10, in March 1967; and a number of Boeing 707-320Cs, 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 A310-300s 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 Banque du Liban (99.37%) and employs 2,310 staff.
Future Plans
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.
Services
Middle East Airlines operates services to the following international scheduled destinations: Abidjan, Abu Dhabi, Accra, Amman, Athens, Cairo, Copenhagen*, Dammam, Doha#, Dubai, Dusseldorf*, Frankfurt, Geneva, Istanbul, Jeddah, Kano, Kuwait, Lagos, Larnaca, London, Milan, Nice*, Paris%, Riyadh, Rome and Sharm el Sheikh*.
* Seasonal
# Operated by Qatar Airways
% Operated in cooperation with Air France
Subsidiaries
Middle East Airlines (MEA) fully owns the following subsidiaries, although they are operated independantly.
- Middle East Airports Services (MEAS)
- Operates and maintains Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport from cleaning the rest rooms in the terminal to de-rubberizing the runways.
- Middle East Airlines Ground Handling (MEAG)
- The dominant ground handling company in Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport handling nearly 80% of all customers. Recently launched fixed base operator services from the new General Aviation Terminal under the name Cedar Jet Center.
- Mideast Aircraft Services Company (MASCO)
- 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.
External links
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Afriqiyah Airways | Air Algerie | Air Arabia | EgyptAir | Emirates | Etihad Airways | Gulf Air | Iraqi Airways | Jordan Aviation | Kuwait Airways | Libyan Arab Airlines | Middle East Airlines | Oman Air | Palestinian Airlines | Qatar Airways | Royal Air Maroc | Royal Jordanian | Saudi Arabian Airlines | Sudan Airways | Syrian Arab Airlines | Trans Mediterranean Airways | Tunisair | Yemenia | | |
| Members of the SkyTeam Alliance | Image:SkyTeam logo.png | |
| Aeroméxico | Air France | Alitalia | Continental Airlines | CSA Czech Airlines | Delta Air Lines | KLM | Korean Air | Northwest Airlines | ||
| Future members: Air Europa | Aeroflot | China Southern Airlines | COPA | Kenya Airways | MEA | TAROM |
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