Review of Middle East Airlines flight Beirut → Dubai in Economy

It is winter season in Lebanon and the weather is extremely cold. Since I had spent the Christmas vacation working, it is just the perfect time for a vacation to a warmer place, and since it is shopping festival in Dubai, immediately I logged to MEA website to book a short trip to Dubai.

The round ticket for my vacation on MEA which is a full service airline, was cheaper than the budget carrier FLYDUBAI. MEA ticket price including all taxes and fees was USD 350 whereas vs. USD 377 for the budget carrier FLYDUBAI.

I opted for MEA (SKYTEAM Member).

I arrived to Raffic Harriri International Airport three hours before takeoff, because I had already new that our flight will be fully booked. Despite the crowded check-in counters, I was able to drop my baggage and obtain my boarding pass within 10 minutes.



After clearing the passport controls, I headed towards MEA cedar lounge where I enjoyed free Lebanese snacks, coffee, complimentary drinks, and baklava sweets.





Soon it was time to head towards departure gates. This is my first A330 flight…so youpppppiiiiii….. Our flight details will be as follows:

Aircraft : Airbus A330-243 (OD-MEA)
STD/ATD : 16:15 / 16:15
STA/ATA : 21:25 / 21:05
Duration : 2 hrs and 50 minutes

Boarding was efficient. It was raining heavily outside and we had a bumpy departure.




After reaching flight level FL390, the flight crew distributed the menus. MEA new menu is prepared in a form of a newspaper that contains travel info and some MEA vintage photos.



MEA vintage photo featuring MEA B707 with related crew in 1968



Along with the menus, headsets were distributed as each passenger has his own IFE. These screens features top western released movies, Arabic movies, TV series, games, and flight show.




Seat pitch is pretty wide



As per MEA policy, each flight departing from Beirut will have the choice of either a Lebanese dish or other dish prepared to suit the arrival destination taste. Today MEA serves either Kebbeh Bi Labban (Stuffed Meat Balls served with cooked yogurt and rice, topped up with pesto sauce) or fish fillet served with spicy sauce and rice.

I opted for the beef dish which is really prepared with a genuine Lebanese touch just as the dish that my mum serves for me at home. The dish is accompanied with a fancy salmon salad, assortments of bread, butter, cheese, fruit salad, selection of drinks (soft/alcoholic), and baklava (Lebanese sweets).

Soft and alcoholic drinks are served in cups with MEA printed logo.






Landing was extremely soft, and we arrived ahead of schedule.

Dubai airport is extremely big and crowded; however the passport control and immigration officers are very friendly and efficient.