Middle East Airlines

Middle East Airlines is an airline based in Lebanon. It flies between the Asia, Europe and Africa.

History
Middle East Airlines opened for business on May 31, 1945. It was opened by Saeb Salam, with support from BOAC. MEA's work started on January 1, 1946 with flights between Beirut and Nicosia. Then its airplanes started to fly to Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and Cyprus. The company bought two Douglas DC-3 planes in mid-1946.  Pan American World Airways bought a stake and management contract in September 1949.

Pan Am was replaced when BOAC acquired 49% of MEA's shares in 1955.  It  merged with Air Liban on 7 June 1963 and took over Lebanese International Airways. 

On September 7, 2006, Israel ended its 8-week long air blockade on Lebanon. A Middle East Airlines plane from Paris flew to the Rafik Hariri International Airport at 6:06 p.m. Lebanese time (3:03 p.m. GMT). MEA resumed its normal flight timetable on September 11, 2006. The MEA has a large assortment of airplanes including the a321neo as its newest plane.

Destinations
Middle East Airlines flies its planes to these countries and their cities (since June 2006):

 Africa 
 Côte d'Ivoire
 Abidjan
 Egypt
 Cairo
 Sharm el Sheikh (sometimes)
 Ghana
 Accra
 Nigeria
 Kano
 Lagos
 Niger

 Asia 
 Jordan
 Amman
 Kuwait
 Kuwait City
 Qatar
 Doha
 Saudi Arabia
 Dammam
 Jeddah
 Riyadh
 United Arab Emirates
 Abu Dhabi
 Dubai

 Europe 
 Cyprus
 Larnaca
 Denmark
 Copenhagen (sometimes)
 France
 Nice (sometimes)
 Paris
 Germany
 Düsseldorf (sometimes)
 Frankfurt am Main
 Greece
 Athens
 Italy
 Milan
 Rome
 Switzerland
 Geneva
 Turkey
 Istanbul
 United Kingdom
 London

References

Category:Airlines of the Middle East
Category:Organizations based in Lebanon
Category:1945 establishments in Asia
Category:20th-century establishments in Lebanon