Middle East Airlines

Middle East Airlines was founded on 31 May 1945 by Saeb Salam, with operational and technical support from BOAC. Operations started on 1 January 1946 using three de Havilland DH.89A Dragon Rapides on services between Beirut and Nicosia, followed by flights to Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and Cyprus. Two Douglas DC-3s were acquired in mid-1946. Middle East Airlines flies to 26 destinations in the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Of these destinations, four are served seasonally, Berlin, Copenhagen, Nice, and Sharm el Sheikh. Although the airline does not have an extensive network compared to other international airlines, it did serve 36 destinations from Beirut in 1968. Nineteen of those routes are no longer served today. Flights to Baghdad will be resumed in June which have been suspended since the Gulf War. There are plans to start service to Moscow, Berlin (from 1 June), Khartoum, and Madrid, all of which were former MEA destinations as well.