Lebanon’s flag carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA), received two new Airbus A321neo aircraft as part of a lease that includes three more.
On Tuesday, the global aircraft operating leasing company BOC Aviation Ltd announced that it had delivered the two planes to MEA.
The company’s managing director and chief executive officer, Robert Martin, said the delivery was a testament to the strong cooperation BOC Aviation shares with industry-leaders such as MEA, “especially in this challenging environment.”
BOC Aviation has a nearly 20-year-long partnership with MEA that is relatively new to the A321neo line.
In July, the Lebanese airline company received its first jet from Airbus’s final assembly line in Hamburg, Germany. With the new addition, MEA now has five A321neo jets, with three more to be delivered by BOC Aviation.
On his part, the chairman and director-general of MEA, Mohamad El-Hout, said that the new arrivals will further enhance the MEA’s commitment to offering its passengers “the best product and continued modernization of the fleet despite the local and international challenges.”
MEA uses its A321neo’s for short-to-medium-haul flights, including trips to the UAE, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France, and others, but the addition of the new pair is expected to expand these jets’ flight schedule.