Welcome to Wassim's Cedarjet Pages

As the French mandate over Lebanon ended on November 22nd 1943, a reliable and modern transportation system was vital for the development of the young republic's economy. On May 31st 1945, Saeb Salaam and Fawzi Hoss founded Middle East Airlines with a capital of 1 million Lebanese pounds (LL). The airline was initially based in Beirut's old Bier Hassan Airfield. Technical assistance was provided by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), which equipped MEA with three De Havilland Dragon Rapide DH89As. MEA's first flight took place on November 30th 1945 between Beirut and Nicosia, Cyprus. Scheduled flights were initiated in January 1946, and MEA's network quickly expanded to include Aleppo in Syria, Haifa and Lydda in Palestine, Nicosia, Cyprus, Cairo, Egypt and Baghdad, Iraq.

2-MEA's network in 1950. Click on the map for a glimpse at MEA's 1950 timetable.

3-Beirut of the early forties (right). Photo: Léon Sire de Vilar in Syrie et Liban, André Geiger, Arthaud Editeurs, Grenoble, 1942.

Douglas DC-3s were more appropriate for the lucrative Baghdad and Cairo routes. Three aircraft of this type (C47-Dakota variants) were subsequently introduced in May 1946, bought in Cairo from the US Army surplus. These ubiquitous planes kept flying for MEA until 1964. The Dakotas' capacity permitted the opening of profitable Hadji pilgrimage flights to Jeddah. In 1947, MEA was among the first airlines serving Kuwait in the Gulf. Scheduled services to Kuwait were initiated, however, later, in 1949 and were quickly follwed by similar services to Bahrain and Dhahran the same year. Ankara and Istanbul became MEA destinations in 1947, and a seasonal Beirut - Athens - Rome - Marseille service was initiated during the summer of that year. In 1948, the first Arab-Israeli war over Palestine led to the disruption of the Haifa and Lydda services. Nevertheless, MEA moved further towards consolidation during that year and ended the phasing out of the DH89 aircraft. The need for more DC-3 aircraft led MEA towards an alliance with Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) in late 1949. Pan Am took-over 36% of MEA's shares, and MEA received 3 DC-3s from Pan Am's European fleet, and was appointed as Pan Am's sales agent throughout the Middle East.Traffic rights between the USA and most of the Middle East (Egypt, Palestine, Transjordan, Hedjaz, The Gulf) were exclusively detained by Trans World Airlines (TWA), Pan Am's rival. By connecting its network to that of MEA in Beirut, Pan Am regained access to these markets.

6-MEA's advertisements for the Beirut-Marseille route in 1947 (left in French, from Gregory Buchakjian's collecyion, right in Arabic).

6bis- MEA's timetable, issued in 1950. From Bjorn Larsson's collection @Timetable Images.com. Click on the image for more on this timetable.

During these first years, MEA grew steadily and made profits despite the turbulent political climate of the region. MEA was also already facing harsh competition in its very own home base. Another Lebanese airline called Compagnie Générale des Transports (C.G.T) had been created in 1945, shortly after MEA, with the assistance of Air France (which initially owned 60% of the airline's shares). C.G.T., who was to be known later as Air Liban operated from Beirut to Cairo, Jerusalem, Baghdad, Damascus and Aleppo, using a French built version of the Junkers JU-52 aircraft. These aircraft were quickly replaced with Douglas DC-3s. Air Liban focused on developing routes to Europe (opening of the Beirut-Paris route in 1948, scheduled services on this route however were not started until 1954) and in pioneering services to West Africa. Thus, Air Liban flew to Dakar and Lagos roughly on a monthly basis in 1948 but regular service had to wait for the introduction of DC-4 aircraft in 1954. Strongly backed by Air France, Air Liban, whose operating costs were greater than MEA's, was a fierce competitor. Furthermore, the distribution of traffic rights between the two airlines was a delicate issue with political ramifications.

7- Left: CGT label, 1949. From Daniel Kusrow's collection @ Timetable Images. com. Right: CGT Toucan AAC. Photo : via John Havers in Gunter G Endres, Airline History N°62, Air Pictorial, November 1983. Click on the image for more on Air Liban.

xxxxxxxx

8- Right: Air Liban Douglas DC-3. Photo John Stroud, via Gunter G Endres, Airline History N°62, Air Pictorial, November 1983.
Left: Air Liban label, 1950. From Daniel Kusrow's collection @ Timetable Images.com.

In 1950, despite its leading role in operating scheduled air services in the Middle East, MEA was still only a regional air-carrier.