brightcedars From Belgium, joined Nov 2004, 1275 posts, RR: 2 Posted (2 years 1 week 6 days 6 hours ago) and read 6273 times:
MEA is on the verge of being a full member of SkyTeam.as of 2012.
The carrier is successfully increasing the size of its fleet, the number of points served, and the frequency at which they are served.
I would like us to share some thoughts on what the network developments could be.
1. North America
It's a fact that the US and Canada are a potential market for MEA but that there currently exist restrictions other than economical governing the topic. For now I just see more cooperation via the European hubs than anything else.
2. Asia & Australia
I don't see MEA operating on its own metal to the region again but could they enter into agreements with regional member airlines? Of course Malaysia Airlines' could be the best suited but they are not a member of the alliance (yet?). Would MEA venture into China or a Chinese carrier venture into Beirut? There could be interesting connection opportunities in the Middle East, North and West Africa.
3. Europe
Far from thinking MEA might leave BRU as it seems to be a success story, will they consider opening AMS as it is another AFKL hub providing many connection opportunities and would allow to better milk Paris' high O&D traffic while providing a fail safe option in case of traffic disruptions at either AMS or CDG (social, weather, etc.). I believe they are slated to opening up MOW in the coming future, doesn't SU already server BEY, will they codeshare on the route? Would MEA cooperate with rival Alitalia? It hasn't been only sweet words between the two in the past years.
Can BEY become a small SkyTeam hub in Beirut where OK and RO would funnel passengers onto ME and vice-versa between Europe and the Levant/Middle East?
4. Middle East Saudia is slated to become another SkyTeam member in the region, will this bring ME and SV any closer? What can they bring to each other? What savings could they realize together if any? Is it just too far fetched to consider any benefits are all (shared lounge at BEY for example)?
5. Africa
MEA seems to be carefully expanding into Africa. SkyTeam's only local member Kenya Airways doesn't (yet) server BEY to my knowledge, and there aren't that many affinities between the countries either (again to my knowledge), is anything more than today possible at all?
brightcedars From Belgium, joined Nov 2004, 1275 posts, RR: 2 Reply 3, posted (2 years 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 6167 times:
Quoting kl911 (Reply 2): For BRU pax there´s the highspeed train into AMS.
Most people were not interested when it was about taking the Thalys to CDG which is a much faster ride, I doubt the demand would survive such a move. BRU is a rediscovered O&D point in its own right with a market that matured in the last 10 years (better income in the target group and so on), I think AMS can run side-by-side as a hub for UK, Northern Europe, and anything US & Canada.
I for myself would probably go for a connection at some intermediary point again over taking the train to AMS or CDG.
Coronado From United States of America, joined Jun 1999, 1000 posts, RR: 2 Reply 4, posted (2 years 1 week 6 days 5 hours ago) and read 6107 times:
If fuel prices revert to sub 100/barrel, I can see a seasonal DL 767 from DTW Detroit to BEY Beirut to support the Friends and Family flows if flights can be timed to offer decent connections to points like Erbil, Baghdad and Amman as well as points in the Gulf.
The Original Coronado: First CV jet flights RG CV 990 July 1965; DL CV 880 July 1965; Spantax CV990 Feb 1973
Fly2yyz From Canada, joined Jan 2006, 964 posts, RR: 2 Reply 5, posted (2 years 1 week 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 5942 times:
Quoting brightcedars (Reply 1): I omitted Latin America, does anyone see an opportunity for a connection to GRU, the local Lebanese focal point? I unfortunately don't.
Unfortunately I don't either... but would love love love to see an extension of their ABJ flights to GRU! Both with decent Lebanese communities.
burnsie28 From United States of America, joined Aug 2004, 7411 posts, RR: 9 Reply 6, posted (2 years 1 week 6 days 3 hours ago) and read 5865 times:
Quoting Coronado (Reply 4): If fuel prices revert to sub 100/barrel, I can see a seasonal DL 767 from DTW Detroit to BEY Beirut to support the Friends and Family flows if flights can be timed to offer decent connections to points like Erbil, Baghdad and Amman as well as points in the Gulf.
Until things settle down in that region, oil could be at $1.00 a barrell and I don't see any US carrier operating to BEY
"Some People Just Know How To Fly"- Best slogan ever, RIP NW 1926-2009
enilria From Canada, joined Feb 2008, 6134 posts, RR: 13 Reply 8, posted (2 years 1 week 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 5799 times:
Quoting brightcedars (Thread starter): 1. North America
It's a fact that the US and Canada are a potential market for MEA but that there currently exist restrictions other than economical governing the topic. For now I just see more cooperation via the European hubs than anything else.
I know non-stop service is banned, but what exactly is the source of the restriction? ...and is it in writing? DOT/FAA/DHS/TSA? Where is the rule blocking it?
BasilFawlty From Netherlands, joined Jun 2009, 1254 posts, RR: 1 Reply 10, posted (2 years 1 week 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 5686 times:
Quoting brightcedars (Reply 3): Most people were not interested when it was about taking the Thalys to CDG which is a much faster ride, I doubt the demand would survive such a move. BRU is a rediscovered O&D point in its own right with a market that matured in the last 10 years (better income in the target group and so on), I think AMS can run side-by-side as a hub for UK, Northern Europe, and anything US & Canada.
Agree, I expect something like CDG 2x daily (as it is currently), AMS 5x weekly or so (maybe daily at a later stage) and BRU 2x weekly or so (maybe a seasonal increase or decrease, subject to demand)
'Every year donkeys and mules kill more people than plane crashes'
directorguy From Egypt, joined Jul 2008, 1569 posts, RR: 12 Reply 11, posted (2 years 1 week 5 days 23 hours ago) and read 5538 times:
China IS a growing market but the requirement to hold transit visas to transit AND OLD: Guangzhou - Baiyun (CAN / ZGGG) (closed), China">CAN/PVG/PEK would deter people from considering this. Perhaps VN? Vietnam is a growing economy, VN has come a long way and is poised to become the Skyteam airline in South East Asia (and Australia-NZ). However, the local SGN-BEY market is minimal....aside from being Francophone can't think of any links. Theoretically though, BEY can serve the Vietnam-Europe market AND the Beirut-Asia/Australia market.
ME's bread and butter is their O&D markets. With TK aggressively competing on routes to Europe, North America and Central Asia, could be difficult for ME to expand and consolidate.
SV&ME. I know that they codeshare and I think share lounges. Combining schedules would give pax for both airlines better choices.
Using the 787/A350, ME can do:
MEACEDAR From Lebanon, joined Oct 2006, 751 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (2 years 1 week 5 days 15 hours ago) and read 5267 times:
ME routes that I think should be implemented:
Europe-
BEY-MAD (2-3x per week, will allow travelers from South America and Mexico that have a fairly large Arab population better connections than just CDG, FRA, or LHR)
BEY-AMS (3x per week, remember AF and ME from CDG so it is not likely they will do a daily service)
BEY-MUC (2-3x per week, will help with the connections within Europe)
BEY-ZRH (3x per week, LARGE banking sector coming up in Lebanon IMO)
BEY-ARN/HEL (3x per week there is nothing between Scandanavia and BEY, I think there might be a seasonal BEY-CPH), this could aggrandize the tourist market even more)
Asia- (I find it very hard for ME to do anything with Asia--EK, QA, EY, have pretty much dominated the routes between the Middle East and Asia, HOWEVER, if anything, I can see BEY-SIN on an A350 once a week.
USA/Canada (NOT PROBABLE NOW BECAUSE OF THE RESTRICTIONS, MAYBE WITHIN THE NEXT 3 YEARS OR SO)
BEY-JFK (3x a week)
BEY-YUL (3x a week)
I would say BEY-DTW, but I think they are better off choosing JFK because it attracts more passengers who would want to go to destinations ME offers in the Middle East region. And possibly more business passengers. And when they become a SkyTeam partner, they probably will have an agreement with DL, who has a large presence at JFK, to codeshare the domestic flights to JFK for the ME connection. For example, the biggest Lebanese populations in the US are in
LAX
MCO
DTW
SAN
BOS
CVG
I would also say BEY-YYZ, but personally I believe YUL is a better choice because there is a larger Arab-Franco-Canadian Population than there is in YYZ. And plus the hop from YUL to YYZ is nothing
South America- (even less likely than Asia IMO, BUT...I can see BEY-GRU twice a week during the summer.
Australia- similar situation with Asia, but there is a large Lebanese population in SYD, so possibly once or twice a week during the summer months
OA260 From Ireland, joined Nov 2006, 24897 posts, RR: 60 Reply 13, posted (2 years 1 week 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 5182 times:
I think we will see a slow expansion depending on the situation on the ground in BEY when MEA join SkyTeam. Direct USA flights will never happen for the next number of years for a number of reasons mostly security and political. I see a move for a number of codeshares with KL/AF to key USA and Canadian cities.
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brightcedars From Belgium, joined Nov 2004, 1275 posts, RR: 2 Reply 14, posted (2 years 1 week 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 5048 times:
Quoting BasilFawlty (Reply 10): Agree, I expect something like CDG 2x daily (as it is currently), AMS 5x weekly or so (maybe daily at a later stage) and BRU 2x weekly or so (maybe a seasonal increase or decrease, subject to demand)
I'm more optimistic than you seeing that some weeks this Summer will see 9 flights a week between BRU and BEY, some still upgraded to A321 to cater for the demand.
LJ From Netherlands, joined Nov 1999, 4143 posts, RR: 1 Reply 17, posted (2 years 1 week 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 4435 times:
Quoting MEACEDAR (Reply 12):
BEY-MAD (2-3x per week, will allow travelers from South America and Mexico that have a fairly large Arab population better connections than just CDG, FRA, or LHR)
I don't think joining an alliance means diverting traffic from that particular alliance. Thus I don't think MEA wil start BEY-MAD for this reason.
MEACEDAR From Lebanon, joined Oct 2006, 751 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (2 years 1 week 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 4225 times:
Quoting LJ (Reply 17): I don't think joining an alliance means diverting traffic from that particular alliance. Thus I don't think MEA wil start BEY-MAD for this reason.
IndianicWorld From Australia, joined Jun 2001, 2403 posts, RR: 0 Reply 19, posted (2 years 1 week 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 4148 times:
Quoting MEACEDAR (Reply 12): Australia- similar situation with Asia, but there is a large Lebanese population in SYD, so possibly once or twice a week during the summer months
No need. They already Codeshare with EY into Australia.
Trying to make a couple of times a week servce work over that distance is also not practical.
ODAFZ From Greece, joined Jul 2004, 348 posts, RR: 5 Reply 20, posted (2 years 1 week 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 4109 times:
there is room for the creation of new routes out of BEY.
In Europe, I would clearly see VIE-ZRH-CPH-ARN
MAD, BCN are well served through FCO
AMS has been dropped in favor of CDG a long time ago and neither KLM or ME will fly to Schipol in order not
to cannibalize the flow of the connecting traffic from CDG.
Alexandria could be a nice addition to the network (the 2nd biggest city of Egypt).
West Africa is well served for the time being, the latest addition of FIH was not a success and ventures to DKR in the past were not met with success.
South Africa is well served from DOH/DXB .
North America DL/AF have one of the better markets and can feed CDG/FCO/ATH with many connecting passengers as for DTW , Royal Jordanian Airlines has almost a monopoly in connecting traffic between DTW and EBL, BGW, BEY etc....
South America with a meaningful Lebano-Syrian community is mostly VFR and O/D traffic , JJ could play a pivotal role in this respect.
The Chinese market is left un-tapped for the time being , BEY could be a stop for a Chinese carrier to Europe for example ATH, BUD or PRG.
Asian market BKK, KUL, SIN. CEB. MNL, HKG, NRT, CGK etc... are well served through DXB/AUH/DOH and fellow skyteam partner MH
yegbey01 From United States of America, joined Nov 2003, 1679 posts, RR: 3 Reply 23, posted (2 years 1 week 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 3614 times:
I doubt that MEA would cancel flights to BRU. In fact, they have added seasonal service to DUS which isn't that far from BRU and AMS, which shows that demand from that region is strong to BEY.
BRU also serves as a jumping point to West Africa on Brussels Airlines. And given that MEA has been planning their SkyTeam membership for quite some time, why would they invest in reopening a route (and all that goes along with it), only to cancel it in 2 or 3 years?
I think we could see a potential reduction to three weekly during the winter and maybe up to 4 in the summer and either KL or MEA could open up 3 to 5 weeklies to AMS. But apparently the service to BRU is serving a lot of O&D traffic which is better than funneling transit pax to AMS
LJ From Netherlands, joined Nov 1999, 4143 posts, RR: 1 Reply 24, posted (2 years 1 week 3 days ago) and read 3556 times:
Quoting yegbey01 (Reply 23):
BRU also serves as a jumping point to West Africa on Brussels Airlines. And given that MEA has been planning their SkyTeam membership for quite some time, why would they invest in reopening a route (and all that goes along with it), only to cancel it in 2 or 3 years?
I doubt that MEA will promote any interline with Brussels Airlines once they're in Skyteam... However, I don't think they'll leave BRU. In the end, Skyteam needs some sort of presence at BRU and maybe they can provide connections on DL.
I do think that there will be a link between BEY and AMS. The most likely operator would be ME.
Quoting ODAFZ (Reply 20):
AMS has been dropped in favor of CDG a long time ago and neither KLM or ME will fly to Schipol in order not
to cannibalize the flow of the connecting traffic from CDG.
Not an issue for hub to hub connections. ME can use AMS to get access to Scandinavia. Moreover, serving AMS would provide an alternative option for travelers.
25 yegbey01: ME is only selling tickets to YUL and YYZ with connections on AC and with IAD on UAL for the last 2 years. Same applies to MEA's flights to GVA.
26 raffik: MEA is re-launching services to Medina, Saudi Arabia. Schedule: ME364 BEY 0725 – 0925 MED 321 34 ME365 MED 1025 – 1125 JED 1225 – 1450 BEY 321 3
27 yegbey01: Well, it is listed as a charter service on the Sarajevo airport website. Airline Date Day Flight number Destination Scheduled time Aircraft type BH A
28 MEA330: Sarajevo flight similar to Medina flight. Religious pilgrimage flight.
29 HiJazzey: Correct, although I think MED-BEY can sustain year round service and hope MEA keep it.
31 HiJazzey: Bosnian hajjis connecting in Beirut. Ramadan is a popular time for Umra. This year it falls in summer.[Edited 2011-05-14 03:51:15]
32 yegbey01: in May? Ramadan falls in August this year.
33 MEA330: You did not even come close HiJazzey MEA flights to Sarajevo are for Lebanese going to the Catholic pilgrimage site of Medyugorje in Bosnia -Herzegovi
34 HiJazzey: Sorry I thought they added it to the summer schedule. I'll crawl back to my cave
36 ODAFZ: Given the historic links with France and Air France, I do not see that happening very soon and furthermore, FRA provides better connections to Scandi
37 Humberside: AMS offers a wider choice of Scandinavian connections with KLM than what is possible from FRA
38 LJ: Yes, but if you're part of Skyteam you don't intend to route your pax via FRA. As AF/KL is one company I don't think AF would care if some of the ME
39 yegbey01: AF owns KL, so as long as you are flying on their metals, they are happy regardless of what historical ties there may be. I think that flights to AMS
40 ODAFZ: It is true if you take into consideration that KRS and LPI are served directly from AMS and not from FRA. FRA is a huge Star alliance station, fellow
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