Review of Middle East Airlines flight from Istanbul to Beirut in Economy

THIS REPORT IS A PART OF THE FLASHBACK SERIES
This report has been added to the FLASHBACK SERIES as this FR doesn't include much detail as my regular reports. In this series of flights, I would share reports from flights that I've flown before registering this website. Just a quick reminder that I am the same human being with "turkishflyer1" on flyertalk so the reports posted can be the same as posted there.
Regular up to date reports would be continued to be shared shortly after the flight date.

Flights that I plan to share:
TK 9 Istanbul to Los Angeles ( Business ), Boeing 777-300ER / May 2012 ( click ), Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul
TK 10 Los Angeles to Istanbul ( Business ), Boeing 777-300ER / May 2012 ( arriving Dec 2019 ), Star Alliance Lounge Los Angeles ( old TBIT )
TK 2312 Istanbul to Izmir ( Economy) , Airbus A340-300 / December 2012 ( click ), Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul Domestic
TK 2333 Izmir to Istanbul ( Economy ), Boeing 737-800 / December 2012 ( click ), Comfort Lounge International
LH 1305 Istanbul to Frankfurt ( Economy ), Airbus A319-100 / February 2013 ( click ), Turkish Airlines Lounge Istanbul
LH 456 Frankfurt to Los Angeles ( Economy ), Boeing 747-8I / February 2013 ( click ), Lufthansa Senator Lounge Z Frankfurt
LH 457 Los Angeles to Frankfurt ( Business ), Boeing 747-8I / February 2013 ( arriving Dec 2018 ), Star Alliance Lounge Los Angeles ( old TBIT )
LH 1300 Frankfurt to Istanbul ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / February 2013 ( arriving Dec 2018 ), Lufthansa Senator Lounge B Frankfurt
XQ 9065 Istanbul-SAW to Izmir ( Economy ), Boeing 737-800 / August 2015 ( click )
XQ 9264 Izmir to Istanbul-SAW ( Economy ), Boeing 737-800 / August 2015 ( click ), Comfort Lounge Domestic
LH 403 Newark-EWR to Frankfurt ( Economy ), Boeing 747-8I / August 2016 ( arriving Jan 2019 ), Lufthansa Business Lounge Newark
LH 1298 Frankfurt to Istanbul ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / August 2016 ( arriving Jan 2019 ), Lufthansa Business Lounge B20-28
ME 266 Istanbul to Beirut ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / September 2016 ( this report )
ME 267 Beirut to Istanbul ( Economy ), Airbus A320-200 / September 2016 ( click )
List subject to change due to photo availability, dates are estimated and changes can occur.
As these flights are reported you would be able to click on the sector to see the FR. Not reported flights would be written in italic.

Online Check-in:
Online check-in served almost nothing because I had chosen my seats when booking the ticket and it didn't let you have a mobile boarding pass. MEA didn't had an online check-in desk at IST. And they ask to fill your passport information.

Entering the airport:
Entering the airport was fast and the first security checkpoint was empty so 2 minutes of waiting time.
Check-in:
People were starting to que up at 08:30 but the desks opened at 09:00. Some people tried to enter the queue from the middle or entered Sky Priority line even they were Economy. I have also seen passengers booked for the next day flight and in the line waiting to check-in. There were 2 Sky Priority and 2 Economy Class desks. When I was checking in, the ground agent checked my passport if I had an Israel stamp due to security reasons.

Spotting in the outbound flight while waiting the flight.

Boarding Pass:

Passport and Security Checkpoint:
Today's wait was 15 minutes in the regular line.
Waiting for the Flight:
Today's choice was Starbucks Coffee at the mezzazine floor. It's the same as usual Starbucks in Turkey but it was crowded and difficult to find a seat.

Gate Area:
Our aircraft from the gate area 222. Today's aircraft was OD-MRO.

Mahan Air A310 departing to IKA from the gate next to ours

An AtlasGlobal A319 ( TC-ATD ) heading to the runway for its flight to CPH

TK A320 just arrived from TLV and parked at gate 221.

Boarding:
Firstly business class passengers were invited to board and after that all remaining passengers were invited. Boarding was on time.
The Seat:
The seat was a regular economy seat for this flight. Every passenger had it's PTV for the flight. The seat had a footrest and the seat pitch was above average economy class seats.

Before Takeoff:
The in flight safety video was shown and the cabin crew checked the cabin for almost 5 times. Every time someone was told to close their mobile phones for takeoff.

So, A triple seven to Chicago

Another 777 to San Francisco

Air Astana A320 to Aytrau

Turkish A330-300 to Boston

TC-JSI to Lisbon ( A321 )

Another USA flight. TK7 to Washington.

Turkish A321s to Rome and Munich

TK1985 to LHR would be operated by a 777-300ER

TC-JSE parked at gate 207 waiting for it's departure to Zürich.

Two TK 738's both just arrived from Thessaloniki ( TC-JVV ) & Batumi ( TC-JHD ).

Last photo before takeoff; TC-JRG departing to AYT at the runway and AC 788 waiting for it's turn

Last view of IST

Takeoff:
After a short while there was a brief video about Lebanon on our PTV's.

15 July Martyrs ( Bosphorus ) Bridge & The Golden Horn

Kadıköy District from the sky

IFE:
There was PTV's at every seat but the entertainment system opened for 1 minutes after the video of Lebanon. The system was deactivated for the rest of the flight. Another point is that overhead monitors were showing the flight map but the monitor over us wasn't working.

There was two magazines. Cedar Wings magazine and the duty free catalogue. In flight duty free was avalible for this flight.

Meal Service:
Firstly the cabin crew handed us the tray that had mini sandwiches, chocolate yoghurt, an orange juice and a small water. Another fact is that no beverages were served and cabin crew was asking everyone if they wanted tea or coffee. Before landing they served a Lebanese cake with pistachios.

Crew:
The only problem was when the crew was distributing immigration cards I tried to stop her but she hadn't so I pressed the crew button to call her. After 2 minutes they have turned off the signal from the front. After that I repressed the button and it was the same thing, they had turned the sign from the system so I've got my form just before leaving the aircraft.
Another point about the crew was that one of the exit row passengers started to touch the window-door just for looking and they strictly warned the passenger not to touch the door instead of an emergency situation.
Arrival:
Arrival was on time. Immigration was quick and fast even I had to fill my form at the airport. Baggages arrived at carousel 2 after 15 minutes of waiting for them.