Middle East Airlines
Lebanon · CEDAR JET · Active
Airline Identity
History
Middle East Airlines (MEA) was founded on 31 May 1945 and began operations on 1 January 1946 with de Havilland Dragon Rapide aircraft, becoming Lebanon's flag carrier. It merged with rival Air Liban in 1963, operated de Havilland Comet 4Cs from 1960 and Boeing 747-200Bs from 1975, and remarkably kept flying through most of the 1975-1991 Lebanese Civil War despite repeated closures of Beirut airport. The airline transitioned to an all-Airbus fleet from the 1990s (A310s, then A321s from 1997 and A330-200s from 2003) and joined the SkyTeam alliance on 28 June 2012 as its second Middle Eastern member.
Current Operations
MEA operates a scheduled international network of roughly 30 destinations across the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia from its Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport hub, with an all-Airbus fleet that has been modernized with A321neo aircraft delivered from July 2020 and further A321neo/XLR and A330neo aircraft reportedly due in 2026. The carrier is majority owned (around 99.5%) by Banque du Liban, Lebanon's central bank, and remains a member of the SkyTeam alliance; it has also outlined plans for a low-cost subsidiary, reportedly branded "Fly Beirut," targeted for launch around 2027.
Last verified 2026-09-02· Source: airline public disclosures, company press releases & aviation-industry reporting.