So apparently the new plane was delivered on Thursday and I totally missed that And it looks like the interior might have had a bit of a makeover (if I understood my friend correctly). Hope I'll catch it sometime soon...
__________________
New York Times names BEIRUT as top destination to visit in 2009. See the article here.
Sorry, but as much as some of you may dream.. BEY/SYD is not going to happen soon. It's just not economical, when the airline can make much more money out of increased short haul frequencies, and sell the same seat many times over in a day, rather than just once on a long route cycle.
MEA works its (now) 10 aircraft very hard, they have only a short time in 24 hour period when not in use (mostly between midnight and early morning, it's always good to fly home from the Gulf and see most of them lined up at night).
As a business person based in BEY, it's good to hear they are expanding frequencies.. as I am fed up of having limited options on flight timings. An early morning and a late evening pair of departures to CAI would be great for example. ME304/5 are just slap bang in the middle of the day and not so practical.
They already cover the main business centres (except the Maghreb, but that's AF/AZ territory anyway) and frankly, to over expand an offering would be a disaster in the making.
Programs: Gulf Air Gold for Life; Qantas Platinum; One World Emerald. Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 880
Quote:
Originally Posted by GK
Sorry, but as much as some of you may dream.. BEY/SYD is not going to happen soon. It's just not economical, when the airline can make much more money out of increased short haul frequencies, and sell the same seat many times over in a day, rather than just once on a long route cycle.
MEA works its (now) 10 aircraft very hard, they have only a short time in 24 hour period when not in use (mostly between midnight and early morning, it's always good to fly home from the Gulf and see most of them lined up at night).
As a business person based in BEY, it's good to hear they are expanding frequencies.. as I am fed up of having limited options on flight timings. An early morning and a late evening pair of departures to CAI would be great for example. ME304/5 are just slap bang in the middle of the day and not so practical.
They already cover the main business centres (except the Maghreb, but that's AF/AZ territory anyway) and frankly, to over expand an offering would be a disaster in the making.
G'day GK
Trust you are well.
Please allow us Aussies to dream of a SYD-BEY. Ultra long haul travel is the norm from Australia so anything that at leasts sounds easy is welcome. Sort of like buying a lottery ticket, you won't win in the end but between buying it and draw date you dream of what you'd do with all the $$!
Any tips on BCN-will be there in Aug??
CJ
__________________ Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof
Sorry, but as much as some of you may dream.. BEY/SYD is not going to happen soon. It's just not economical, when the airline can make much more money out of increased short haul frequencies, and sell the same seat many times over in a day, rather than just once on a long route cycle.
MEA works its (now) 10 aircraft very hard, they have only a short time in 24 hour period when not in use (mostly between midnight and early morning, it's always good to fly home from the Gulf and see most of them lined up at night).
As a business person based in BEY, it's good to hear they are expanding frequencies.. as I am fed up of having limited options on flight timings. An early morning and a late evening pair of departures to CAI would be great for example. ME304/5 are just slap bang in the middle of the day and not so practical.
They already cover the main business centres (except the Maghreb, but that's AF/AZ territory anyway) and frankly, to over expand an offering would be a disaster in the making.
Granted, many MEA flights are inflexibly timed and thus, I know many people who opt to fly on other better-timed carriers. But that's not to say that the airline doesn't have its share of long-haul routes. Its African route (the one that flies to Kano, Accra and Lagos) takes up valuable A330 time yet is continued to this day.
Perhaps the airline could reorganize itself into two seperate entities, one long-haul and one medium-haul division to make the idea clearer. Granted, the airline's near-future fleet of A330s, A321s and A320s are designed for medium-haul use (although the A330 can be stretched to fly to SYD). So obviously long-haul expansion is not on the short term list. But on the medium-term list, if you may, then it should be a possibility. There are several potentially high-density markets, which studied, could be real money-makers for the airline. Markets such as Toronto, Montreal and New York-JFK, or Sydney and Melbourne. A South American destination wouldn't hurt.
Some people claim that the airline's limited fleet makes it difficult for it to expand long-haul. Well, not true. Look at Royal Jordanian. They are able to offer flights to ORD and JFK and Montreal and Detroit while maintaining an extensive regional network.
No one's saying that MEA should expand NOW (i.e. it should list JFK effective winter schedule), we're just speculating on how MEA could possibly approach a destination like SYD.
OK, first of all the US gov't bans direct flights from Lebanon, so JFK is not appearing on this winter schedule for sure. AF operates a 777 to BEY for a reason, being the long haul connecting traffic.
And a quick update on the new A330, a colleague flew on it this week to CDG and the biz seats recline "nearly flat" with a hard shell casing - hope I get it on my flight on Monday, will take pictures if I do.
And it looks like the interior might have had a bit of a makeover (if I understood my friend correctly). Hope I'll catch it sometime soon...
