Slz396 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 6778 times:
In a different forum I read Middle Eastern Airlines just announced they will buy 4 A330 and 4 A321, with options for another 5 in a deal said to be worth 900 million USD.
The deal was to be inked summer 2006 but was delayed by the war and will be signed soon.
Can't find any confirmation though... anybody willing to see if they have more success?
PADSpot From Germany, joined Jan 2005, 1676 posts, RR: 5 Reply 1, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 14 hours ago) and read 6695 times:
It seems that the troubles in Lebanon had no sustainable effect on MEA's ability to grow. Good news ... both for MEA and for Airbus. What is missing now is an official announcement!
OD720 From Lebanon, joined Feb 2003, 1919 posts, RR: 36 Reply 5, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 6463 times:
Quoting Aleksandar (Reply 3): Does the new A330 order means long-haul expansion. If so, in what direction?
Rumors say that these 4 new A330s will replace the 3 currently leased A330s in the fleet. If this is true, it means this will not be a long-haul expansion rather than a routine fleet upgrade.
Raffik From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2006, 1644 posts, RR: 4 Reply 6, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 6450 times:
Brilliant news!
Quoting Aleksandar (Reply 3): Does the new A330 order means long-haul expansion. If so, in what direction?
Yes and No. I believe that the 3 of the new A330s will directly replace the 3 leased A330s MEA currently uses, meaning that the wide body fleet will increase by one aircraft.
The airline will operate 14 aircraft-
10 A321-200
4 A330-200 s
KL808 From United States of America, joined May 1999, 1573 posts, RR: 2 Reply 7, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 6428 times:
It was widely speculated that they where going to take A319's.
Again, such a big number of A321s makes no sense to me, unless there are smaller planes, too. A321 can do a lot on MEA's important routes, but they'll have to find new markets, too.
Thanks, for explaining me more about A330s. I was secretly hoping that MEA might need more planes for new routes.
BrightCedars From Belgium, joined Nov 2004, 1272 posts, RR: 2 Reply 11, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 6226 times:
Mabrouk MEA!
Can't wait to fly their A330-200 in both classes this Xmas!
It seems they are reasonably bullish about prospects for the future, I currently am not myself. A 4th A330 will certainly mean 2 x daily A330 to Paris by MEA and some additional A330 services to popular Gulf destinations e.g. Dubai.
The narrow-bodies (A319s or A321s), I hope and think A319s, will be used to provide shuttle regional flights (AMM, CAI, LCA) and more frequent flights (ATH, IST) with a less long-haul like product and free up the A321s to do more longer-haul missions. So it seems no regional jets are on the horizon.
I'd love to see MEA and Brussels Airlines start a codeshare on BEY-BRU, operated by ME of course. But that's bound to remain just a hope.
MEACEDAR From Lebanon, joined Oct 2006, 751 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 6088 times:
Quoting Aleksandar (Reply 3): Does the new A330 order means long-haul expansion. If so, in what direction?
Yes some destinations will be added. I think they well start flights to AMS because KLM stopped it. AMS was huge in BEY. I think they will also make some destinations that they are currently going to seasonally into various weekly flights. I also heard that Lisbon is on their list on destinations. In addition, they will add more flight to CDG and FRA.
Quoting OD720 (Reply 5): Rumors say that these 4 new A330s will replace the 3 currently leased A330s in the fleet. If this is true, it means this will not be a long-haul expansion rather than a routine fleet upgrade.
When does the lease end with MEA A330s?
MEA should resume destinations that they stopped like SYD. If MEA can just get one or two A340 or B777, this would make MEA a more elite airline, especially when they are going to join the SkyTeam in 2007 or 2008.
Kamboi From United States of America, joined Sep 2000, 126 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 5891 times:
I would've rather they waited a bit and go for the A350 or the B787. Also a B777-300ER or 200LR would be nice.
Kamboi From United States of America, joined Sep 2000, 126 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 7 hours ago) and read 5851 times:
BA From United States of America, joined May 2000, 11135 posts, RR: 61 Reply 17, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 5576 times:
Just to clarify again, the order will be for 4 A330s and 4 A319s, not 4 A321s.
The plan before the war was that 3 of the 4 A330s would replace the existing ILFC-leased A330s and I expect that they will continue forward with this plan which means the widebody fleet will see a net increase of 1 aircraft.
The reasons why MEA would replace them is because MEA would like to own its entire fleet. MEA's current 6 A321s are owned by the airline, but the 3 A330s are leased from the International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC).
Another reason is that MEA wants to put a higher quality lower density interior that better fits into MEA's strategy and to better compete with other their competition (EK, QR, EY, etc.).
MEA's current A330s have a relatively high density configuration of 42 Cedar Class and 202 Economy Class for a total of 250 seats.
I predict MEA will put no more than 210 seats on the new A330s, but who knows.
MEA's current A321s have an incredibly low density and luxurious configuration of 31 Cedar Class and 118 Economy Class seats for a total of 149 seats, so there will be no changes for that.
I predict the A319s will have around 110 seats.
"Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need." - Khalil Gibran
Kamboi From United States of America, joined Sep 2000, 126 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 5481 times:
MEA's CEO, Mohammad El-Hout, said the additional aircraft will be used to increase frequencies on existing destinations and restart flights to Doha, Qatar to better serve MEA passengers making connections on Qatar Airways to the Far East.
Qatar Airways became an MEA partner in 2004.
"Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need." - Khalil Gibran
LTU932 From Germany, joined Jan 2006, 13864 posts, RR: 51 Reply 21, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 5077 times:
Quoting Raffik (Reply 6): Yes and No. I believe that the 3 of the new A330s will directly replace the 3 leased A330s MEA currently uses, meaning that the wide body fleet will increase by one aircraft.
So the new A330s will be purchased and not leased? And will they be Lebanese registered or will they still carry French Overseas registrations?
BA From United States of America, joined May 2000, 11135 posts, RR: 61 Reply 22, posted (6 years 6 months 2 weeks 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 5034 times:
Quoting LTU932 (Reply 21): So the new A330s will be purchased and not leased?
That's correct. Same with the A319s.
Quoting LTU932 (Reply 21): And will they be Lebanese registered or will they still carry French Overseas registrations?
That depends on the financing and insurance agreements.
MEA's current 6 A321s are owned by the airline, but are French registered for either financing reasons (they're being financed over a 10 year period) or for insurance reasons, I forgot which.
"Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need." - Khalil Gibran
Airbus’s mid-life update for the A320 family has hit trouble with the revelation that it is unlikely to adopt new large winglets that were central to expected fuel burn improvements...
25 LTBEWR: Good to hear of an airline that has had to face the trials of Job can and will continue to thrive and grow. Despite the problems it has faced from reg
26 BA: Thanks for that. I remember reading this, however, the A320 Enhanced will still have several other improvements besides the winglets. From the passen
Sponsor Message: 
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
From Germany, joined Jan 2005, 1676 posts, 
From Lebanon, joined Feb 2003, 1919 posts, 
From Serbia, joined Jul 2000, 3229 posts, 
From Bahrain, joined May 2002, 1296 posts, 
From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2006, 1644 posts, 
From United States of America, joined May 1999, 1573 posts, 
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
From Switzerland, joined May 2005, 1591 posts, 
Printer friendly format 
