Impressions Of Middle East Airlines A330 Business Class

Hope you share restaurants you eat while in Lebanon. Food there is amazing.

Foie is delicious. Eat it. I eat it raw!

Yes, I second @Santastico's comment – if you have some standout food in Beirut, please post about it.

Make sure you eat at Em Sheriff in Beirut. One of the best restaurant experiences I've had anywhere. you will not be disappointed

Flying sunday! Have fun in beirut, Baalbek and Anjar!!! If you have time go Tyrus and tripoli up north. Rentals are dirt cheap.

And learn to eat fois gras. I have always some in my freezer at home.

"The longest routes they operate are to Europe, the Middle East, and North and West Africa."

Er, those are the only routes they offer 😉

And Em Sharif is definitely worth a visit.

For those wondering, if you aren't flying MEA to/from Europe, Air France and British Airways offer a real business class seat.

Not sure what you see in the livery. Just meh.

We're in the same city! I flew them once in economy from BEY-LHR, and they definitely had a Lebanese breakfast option with knafeh. The Lebanese love it. If you've never had it before, you should try it. Unless you really really love cheese, the three of you can probably just share one. It is one of the Lebanese dishes I hadn't tried before moving to Beirut. I can only have two or three bites of it though and then hallas.

I've never been to Em Sheriff. Maybe I should put it on my list of restaurants to try out. In general most Lebanese and Lebanese/Armenian restaurants with mezze are delicious. I usually just stuff myself with mezze. I haven't been to Al Falamanki next door once, and it was smoky with nargileh and locals playing tawleh (backgammon), so if you go Em Sharif, maybe stop at Al Falamanki for a nargileh (I don't personally enjoy it) or a drink/minted lemonade and play some backgammon. This scene is common in many restaurants though.

I feel like the livery looks a bit outdated.

I flew in economy with them once from Cairo to Beirut, and then connecting to LHR. Very impressed by the service onboard, and the professional staff at BEY who knew their stuff [ I had a piece of luggage in transit from JED, as one does. 🙂 ]. They even offered very nice menus to passengers in economy in an old fashioned folded newspaper format, which was simply a nice surprise. I also loved their (new) lounge at BEY, when I visited, it was only opened a few weeks ago. Overall, I like their services and professionalism, although BEY is the airport to avoid when it comes to immigration and customs. I remember getting into security for a 7am departure flight was just a nightmare that I would want to avoid.

I feel like you can't compliment this livery and then be all poo poo on Zipair...similar "I made this in Microsoft Word" kind of look.

For all the people telling Ben to eat foie gras: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqI-28WuoYQ

Oh no , another trip in J. Another meal choice not available......We’re you sat towards the back of the cabin as normal Ben ??

I personally find that I often prefer angle lie-flat seats. Most aircraft fly with slight pitch so horizontal lie-flats often have your feet higher than your head which I find uncomfortable.

I get a good sleep on Condor 767's for example.

Yes - you are the only one who likes that livery....

Although your nickname is Lucky, you don't seem to be so lucky when it comes to the salmon! Poor you. At least that seafood dish looked delicious. Which brings me to the question why passengers in all classes can't pre-order their meals like they can seats (without the hefty surcharge for "special meals" as some airlines do)?

It surely has to be a win-win. The airline can then load exactly the amount of each dish and passengers will always have their choice.

I have tried on all of my most recent trips to the Gulf for work to book a leg on MEA, but they just don't work with the timings I need and it does not appear to be possible to book a full SkyTeam ticket with them included, so I haven't been able to.

Y’all kill me advising Ben on where to go and where to eat. That’s not what he does. He reviews airlines and airline lounges and hotels and hotel lounges. He eats in hotels. Rare are the reviews as a traveler actually visiting a place. On the other hand, I appreciate all your suggestions and recommendations

Well, if he enjoys Lebanese food as much as he claims, it would be a shame for him to not have any outside of whatever hotel he is staying at...

So, you find foie gras unnecessarily cruel, but you still take it to take a picture of it? Seems a little wasteful.

@ Ron -- The foie gras I took a picture of wasn't mine...

In a couple of years they will receive their brand new A330 900 Neos, which will include wifi on board new business class seating. I flew MEA in 2017 to Abu Dhabi on the A320 and I was amazed and the food the seating and leg room, As I flew on Etihad a few weeks earlier to Amman being a 5 star airline, MEA blew it out of the water i terms of service level ,meals and entertainment. MEA will also be getting 15 new A321 He is also.

Great review Ben! I must say I do like their livery as well...it is very refreshing.
I wish MEA flew to Asia, they’re a great airline and hopefully they do when they expand with their new A330 neo aircraft.
Hope you had a great time in Lebanon. It is a great destination.

"Full review to follow..."

How is that coming along?

MEA generally has good service and food. However, its hard product isn't quite up to snuff. Would love to try the A330-900, though.