THE CEDARJET PAGES
By Wassim Chemaitelli
MEA TIMETABLE, SUMMER 1996.
This document is based on MEA's timetable N°62/A eff June 24th 1996.
In 1996, MEA's network covered the longest distances ever flown by the airline ranging from Sydney to Sao Paulo.
MEA introduced Airbus A310s in its fleet in 1992. Copyright Christian Waser.@Airliners .net.
The fleet included 15 planes : the 3 Boeing 747s, bought back the previous year from American Express under the sale-lease back contract signed in 1985, 8 hush-kitted Boeing 707s and 4 leased Airbus A310 (2 from ILFC, 2 from Polaris).
MEA's Boeing 707s could still be seen as far as Colombo to the south-east, Kano to the south-west and Copenhagen to the north in 1996. Seen here over Larnaca, Cyprus. Photo: Savvas Petoussis@Airliners.net.
The table below indicates the routings of flights leaving
Beirut.
| Flight number | Flights per week | Routing | Aircraft | Traffic right |
| ME 201 | 2 | Beirut-London | B747 | |
| ME 201 | 2 | Beirut-London | A310 | |
| ME 203 | 1 | Beirut-Zurich | A310 | |
| ME 205 | 1 | Beirut-Berlin | B747 | |
| ME 211 | 5 | Beirut-Paris/Orly | A310 | |
| ME 211 | 2 | Beirut-Paris/Orly | B747 | |
| ME 215 | 1 | Beirut-Nice | A310 | |
| ME/LH 217 | 2 | Beirut-Frankfurt | A310 | |
| ME/LH 217 | 1 | Beirut-Frankfurt | B747 | |
| ME 221 | 2 | Beirut-Geneva-Brussels | A310 | |
| ME 227 | 1 | Beirut-Copenhagen | B747 | |
| ME 227 | 1 | Beirut-Copenhagen | B707 | |
| ME 231 | 2 | Beirut-Rome | A310 | |
| ME 235 | 2 | Beirut-Milan | A310 | |
| ME 251 | 3 | Beirut-Athens | B707 | |
| ME 261 | 4 | Beirut-Larnaca | B707 | |
| ME 265 | 2 | Beirut-Istanbul | B707 | |
| ME 267 | 2 | Beirut-Istanbul-Bucharest | B707 | |
| ME 304 | 3 | Beirut-Cairo | A310 | |
| ME 304 | 2 | Beirut-Cairo | B707 | |
| ME 312 | 4 | Beirut-Amman | A310 | |
| ME 312 | 3 | Beirut-Amman | B707 | |
| ME 332 | 1 | Beirut-Damascus | B707 | |
| ME 364 | 1 | Beirut-Jeddah | B747 | |
| ME 368 | 3 | Beirut-Jeddah | A310 | |
| ME 368 | 1 | Beirut-Jeddah | B707 | |
| ME 374 | 1 | Beirut-Jeddah-Khartoum | A310 | JED-KRT-JED |
| ME 374 | 1 | Beirut-Jeddah | B707 | |
| ME 402 | 3 | Beirut-Kuwait | A310 | |
| ME 402 | 1 | Beirut-Kuwait | B747 | |
| ME 404 | 3 | Beirut-Kuwait | A310 | |
| ME 418 | 2 | Beirut-Abu Dhabi | A310 | |
| ME 422 | 1 | Beirut-Riyadh | B747 | |
| ME 422 | 1 | Beirut-Riyadh | A310 | |
| ME 426 | 1 | Beirut-Abu Dhabi- Dubai | A310 | |
| ME 428 | 5 | Beirut-Dubai | A310 | |
| ME 432 | 1 | Beirut-Doha | B707 | |
| ME 442 | 2 | Beirut-Dhahran | B707 | |
| ME 446 | 1 | Beirut-Dhahran-Bahrain | A310 | |
| ME/WT 571 | 1 | Beirut-Lagos-Accra | A310 | |
| ME/WT 575 | 1 | Beirut-Kano | B707 | |
| ME 634 | 1 | Beirut-Kuala Lumpur-Sydney | B747 | |
| ME 636 | 2 | Beirut-Abu Dhabi-Colombo | B707 | |
| ME 664 | 1 | Beirut-Abidjan-Sao Paulo | B747 | ABJ-GRU-ABJ |
| ME 7442 | 1 | Beirut-Riyadh | A310 |
MEA's B747s were flown on MEA's long-haul operations; Abidjan-Sao Paulo and Kuala Lumpur-Sydney, but were also used for the airline's high yield medium haul flights (London, Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, Copenhagen,Jeddah, Kuwait, Riyadh). Copyright Daniel Dufner@Aviation Marketplace by Bird Publishing.
Despite the apparent expansion, MEA's financial situation was very critical. Operating costs were very high and competition was on the increase: of all the 35 flown destinations, only those in West Africa, Germany, Copenhagen, Sydney, Sao Paulo and Khartoum were not duplicated by another airline offering cheaper fares and additionnal connections. MEA was still banned from flying the lucrative routes to the USA, which would have markedly increased the profitability of the long haul 747 fleet. The B707 fleet, despite its excellent technical condition, was very costly to operate and did not provide the passenger with the comfort and amenities of more modern jets. MEA will soon engage in a modernization program, including the introduction of new narrow body jets, the consolidation of the 310 fleet and the sale of the 3 B747s. New corporate colors will be adopted in the coming few weeks. This timetable will be one of the 3 last editions of the Yellow&Orange classic format used since 1970.