Lebanon's always had a special place in the region despite internal strife. Middle East Airlines was a premium airline back in the 1950s and 1960s, and had a large and impressive network, with Beirut being a major ME gateway. I hope that the current political situation lasts and that MEA can start picking up where it left off. Who knows, in a few years it should have enough capital to order a few large aircraft and restart those Australian/North American services. The fact that some MEA aircraft have IFE now means that the airline means business...
MEA is a pleasure to fly.. like the fact that the tail is now the national flag.. perhaps more people who see this on the ground at BEY will remember it's a country we live in, not a federation.
Personally, I think the short/mid haul strategy is the right way.. now just have to get MEA into Skyteam proper..
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BEYFlyer
Yes, Lebanon is back in FULL swing. We didn't waste a single minute.
That's great to hear!
As for the MEA livery, I really like the tail part (Lebanon's flag, sort of), but have mixed feelings of the RGB on the fuselage. Maybe I'll get used to it
I think that SkyTeam will open up numerous benefits...MEA had always had a strong relationship with Air France, yet for some reason MEA's only going to become an Associate Member. Granted it doesn't have a large enough route network, but I hope that if MEA joins as an Associate Member, expands as an airline, then it should become a full member. I suspect that the limited network is the only reason behind not granting MEA full member status.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by directorguy_
Lebanon's always had a special place in the region despite internal strife. Middle East Airlines was a premium airline back in the 1950s and 1960s, and had a large and impressive network, with Beirut being a major ME gateway. I hope that the current political situation lasts and that MEA can start picking up where it left off. Who knows, in a few years it should have enough capital to order a few large aircraft and restart those Australian/North American services. The fact that some MEA aircraft have IFE now means that the airline means business...
I thought all ME ac had IFE and was one of the first airlines with AVOD even in Y in the region/world? With their new orders MEA should have one of the youngest fleets in the world.
I wish we could see them back here in SYD. Emirates and Etihad in SYD owe much of their capacity to pax travelling to BEY. EY moreso than EK however. They just need the likes of an A345 and that SYD-BEY direct route would be super. I appreciate also that the yeild is low from SYD unless you charge QF/SQ level fares. There were rumours that Qantas low cost carrier Jetstar has Beirut as a potential destination.
I do think that North America JFK/YUL would be real winners for ME. The cancelling of the YUL route at the 11th hr was indeed a major dissapointment to many.
I also agree the tri-clour curves are making the ac look like a Christmas tree-esp when the winglets are also tri-colour. I still think the blue and green side curves should go, keeping the red curve only as a true extention of the Lebanese flag across the fuselage.
Does any FT'er have photoshop skills to get rid of the side blue and green stripes only keeping the red curved line and show us what it looks like ? I have no pc skills whatsoever let alone photoshop
My 2 cents.
Good luck to MEA
CJ
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Even based on political reasons, the flag carrier of Lebanon should be the one flying a direct BEY-SYD. It's a shame that for economic reasons the Australian market continues to be dominated by a few carriers who take advantage of fifth freedom rights.
BEY is a well-designed and efficient facility, and has the potential and capacity to accomodate MEA expansion.
All the airline needs now are to lease a few A340-500/600s (for current operations) and to place a nice, large aircraft order. A350s are looking good, as are Dreamliners if MEA fancies Boeing. Who knows....maybe in 10 years we'll see MEA A380s at Sydney!
About the livery, I agree with you CJ-the Christmas tree look isn't exactly appealing and will look outdated very, very soon. The old livery was simple yet efficient and recognizable. The very old livery, which had more red in it, was also pleasant. My hope is that an airline exec will realise the great error they've done and order a new livery.
If you look at the MEA logo, it is printed in 3 colors; red, green and blue. When the new re-design was launched a few years back, the red and green was a direct link with the flag and the blue represented our wonderful blue skies and the Mediterranean Sea. I guess a logo of red-green-red didn't look so "interesting" so they decided to incorporate a third color which was blue. So they just took those colors and incorporated them into the entire fuselage. The colors were always there on the A330 winglets.
I always loved the cedar tree on the tail; can't get more Lebanese than that and certainly much nicer than the old "geometric" cedar tree. Plus adding a few extra curves without having to have a full re-design saves them a bit of money . Very resourceful we are (I sound like Yoda)... I remember when airlines were phasing out all 707s because of "noise pollution", MEA was adding "hush kits" (as they called them) and renaming the planes New-Q (as in quiet) .
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[quote=BEYFlyer;9886092]If you look at the MEA logo, it is printed in 3 colors; red, green and blue. When the new re-design was launched a few years back, the red and green was a direct link with the flag and the blue represented our wonderful blue skies and the Mediterranean Sea. I guess a logo of red-green-red didn't look so "interesting" so they decided to incorporate a third color which was blue. So they just took those colors and incorporated them into the entire fuselage. The colors were always there on the A330 winglets.
I always loved the cedar tree on the tail; can't get more Lebanese than that and certainly much nicer than the old "geometric" cedar tree. Plus adding a few extra curves without having to have a full re-design saves them a bit of money . Very resourceful we are (I sound like Yoda)... I remember when airlines were phasing out all 707s because of "noise pollution", MEA was adding "hush kits" (as they called them) and renaming the planes New-Q (as in quiet) .[/
Hi BEY
I understand the 'tri-colour' concept however with the 'MEA' in 3 colours, the winglets in 3 colours and the curves now also in 3 coloues it just looks a little 'busy/colourful'. Less is more
Afterall the Lebanese relatively are the most refined in the region in the arts/fashion stakes...
CJ
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Afterall the Lebanese relatively are the most refined in the region in the arts/fashion stakes...
Hey!!! Whatever happened to the Egypt, seat of the most ancient of civilisations, cultural capital of singing, films, arts and philosophy? (although I admit Lebanon eclipsed us in journalism for a brief period in the '60s)
I bet a SYD-BEY direct route would also have a benefit:
- show a few million Australians that there is more to Lebanon than controversial Muftis and persons of middle eastern appearance;
- Lebanon is more than the negative images of a few embarrassments here;
- The food and hospitality (not to mention the ratio of women to men ); and
- Probably a much more fun stopover location, if the militias are playing nice, than Qatar and Dubai?
I´m still looking forward to catching uo with a few habibis (and habithas?) sometime, somehow... it will likely be via AUH or BAH unless CJ´s wish comes true.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BEYFlyer
I always loved the cedar tree on the tail; can't get more Lebanese than that and certainly much nicer than the old "geometric" cedar tree.
I LOVE the "geometric" cedar tree! Even though the new Cedar tree looks great, the old logo means a lot more to me I used to love boarding the 707s via the stairs at BEY...ahh... those days (though not the best days for Lebanon )
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Director guy I said arts and fashion....have you seen some of those Egyptian female(and male)TV show hosts in action with the make up and christmas tree outfits?
Lebanon is the Middle Easts pressure valve, where Arabs from Bahrain to Casablanca can be almost as western as they wish in a fully Middle Eastern environment-now that's unique. I know many countries claim they are a crossroad between civilisations/continents, however, Lebanon truely is just that in its own right.
Egypts majestic place in history is sacred, granted
CJ
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Director guy I said arts and fashion....have you seen some of those Egyptian female(and male)TV show hosts in action with the make up and christmas tree outfits?
Sabah, anyone? LMAO
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cedar Jet
Lebanon is the Middle Easts pressure valve, where Arabs from Bahrain to Casablanca can be almost as western as they wish in a fully Middle Eastern environment-now that's unique. I know many countries claim they are a crossroad between civilisations/continents, however, Lebanon truely is just that in its own right.
Egypts majestic place in history is sacred, granted
CJ
Egypt is sort of the spring which originated civilisations. Lebanon/Levant is also rly important-oldest continuously inhabited area in the world!
What are the chances of Middle East Airlines becoming a Boeing customer? I understand that currently they're all-Airbus folks. A few long-range Boeing 777s would no doubt be able to fly BEY-SYD, but would an A340-600 be able to do the same thing without stopping? BEY-SYD is 14,181km away, while the A346 can fly 13,900 fully loaded. A stop in Sri Lanka perhaps? http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=b...avy&MAP-STYLE=
OR they can fly on an A345, but this has less capacity and is extremely expensive...
BiziBB, things are FANTASTIC in Beirut right now... Wish you could come over sometime soon. In a couple of weeks (once schools are done and summer is in full swing), the whole area will be buzzing. Right now, everyone is too busy with Euro 2008 Amazing city...
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Can I jump into this out of the blue
I just got back from Lebanon, and despite the media, the tension, and the travel warnings, I had a great time. The weather was perfect. The food was fantastic. I even got a job offer
I was surprised to see both flights I took into BEY(EK957 and EK958) were packed in all classes.
Roads were on the quiet side (could be too many left the country as of the recent events, or petrol prices are crippling traffic) from Jounieh into BEY a mere 30 minute sprint, even at morning rush hour.
It was my first time in the Cedar Lounge in the morning time, and got to enjoy the natural light it has, honestly, EK lounges (even the newer ones in SE Asia) don't compare to MEA's lounge feel. It's shame the cedar lounge misses on the showers.
During the July war in 06, we flew LCA-SIN-SYD on MEA. It was one amazing flight. I wished then one day ME flies SYD via SIN (the new terminal me thinks), its a 10 hour sector, and beats KL's airport. An early departure from BEY (say 8AM), with early arrival into SYD. Then return flight departs in the evening, and arrives to BEY in the early morning next day.
.
Whatever happened to the Egypt, seat of the most ancient of civilisations, cultural capital of singing, films, arts and philosophy? (although I admit Lebanon eclipsed us in journalism for a brief period in the '60s)
I LOVE the "geometric" cedar tree! Even though the new Cedar tree looks great, the old logo means a lot more to me 
)
