The prestigious Air Transport World magazine ranked Middle East Airlines (MEA) the 18th carrier in the world in terms of net profits in 2008. The magazine, which published tables of the leading 25 airlines around the world in terms of size of fleet and number of passengers, said that MEA recorded a net profit of $89.463 million in 2008 ahead of Republic Airways Holding and behind Virgin Blue Airlines.
The US-based Federal Express took the first spot with a net profit of $1.125 billion, followed by Qantas Group with a profit of $931.401 million. According to the magazine, Delta Airlines was the largest carrier in terms of number of planes with a fleet of 749 aircrafts.
MEA chairman Mohamad El Hout said that the results proved that small carriers can survive better than large airlines during a deep economic recession. “Many large international airlines recorded huge losses due to the global financial crisis. But our company continued to show steady profits despite the relatively small fleet in comparison to other airways,” Hout said.
MEA is currently operating brand new 13 Airbus planes and intends to acquire an additional three Airbus aircraft. The airline flies to 29 destinations in the Middle East, Europe and Africa. Hout stressed that the company managed to maintain steady profits for many years thanks to the prudent policy of the management.
He said that he is quite satisfied with the number of aircrafts, suggesting that the company has no intentions to go beyond 16 planes in the near future.
Hout added that after the election of President Michael Slieman, more than 1.1 million passengers’ boarded MEA planes.
“If the situation remained the same and the number of tourists to Lebanon rose then I expect to have profits similar to 2008.” |