A Middle East Airlines plane on the AIB tarmac. A ceremony in honor of MEA staff and airport employees was held on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024. Illustration photo L'OLJ
Staff members of Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA), and employees at Rafik Hariri International Airport were honored at a ceremony held at the airport on Tuesday.
The event, held by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, was organized in appreciation of “their efforts and commitment to ensuring the continuity of connections between Lebanon and the rest of the world.”
Speaking before several hundred guests, Mikati said that Beirut’s airport “would not have been able to maintain its activities at the same pace without the support of MEA, which has also managed to overcome the economic crisis Lebanon has been going through” since late summer 2019.
After paying tribute to the employees of MEA and the airport, Mikati highlighted the “unfailing determination and unparalleled resilience of Mohammad al-Hout,” CEO of MEA.
He added that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken “had personally contacted Hout to commend his determination to ensure the continuity of MEA operations.”
For his part, caretaker Public Works and Transportation Minister Ali Hamieh said that during the two months of open warfare between Hezbollah and Israel, “there were two major priorities: guaranteeing the safety of civil aviation personnel and protecting Beirut’s airport from Israeli bombing.”
“Our pilots are heroes in the truest sense of the word,” Hout said, adding that the company's courage was “a symbol of the nation.” He thanked Mikati for “his constant support and commitment, which have contributed to the continuation of air operations during the war.”
For two months after the launch of a large-scale Israeli offensive in Lebanon on Sept. 23, MEA was the only airline to operate regular flights to and from Beirut. Its planes continued to land, even in the midst of Israeli strikes targeting areas near the airport.
While the cease-fire that came into effect on Nov. 27 brought an end to 14 months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel, Mikati assured that “the country has turned the page of war” and announced that the next president would be elected during the parliamentary session scheduled for Jan. 9, 2025.
Lebanon has been in a presidential vacuum since the end of Michel Aoun's term in October 2022.
Hout, chairman of MEA's board of directors since 1998, claimed that the company had generated “more than $1.5 billion in profits, part of which was granted to Banque du Liban (BDL).” However, he did not provide further details regarding the specific period in which these profits were generated.
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