Onboard the Middle East's SECRET National Airline 

I nearly chocked when Noel said "You Germans never annoyed anyone in history." 😆

Thank you so much for standing up for the disabled. My 84 year old mom travels frequently, and is in a wheelchair (she can’t walk long distances), and I cringe at the things she’s told me about what she’s encountered while traveling. So, thanks again. ❤

Haha that little back and forth about Germany and Britain was 👌😂

Love Lebanon and always had a good experience on MEA. Really liked the all white livery with the cedar tree on the tail in the nineties. Praying for better economic times for Lebanon.

There is a very relaxing almost ASMR type feeling i get from your videos, Noel. Been following you for a while now and I really appreciate your entertaining and informative videos over and over again. I love the humor you add into your content as well. Thanks for bringing us along on your journey. Cheers!

I don't get people rushing to get on a plane, you have an allocated seat, you are getting to your destination, no need to push past. Fair play to Noel here, another great video, thank you.

Speaking as someone who is disabled and tries not to travel due to people like that. THANK NOEL!! I wish there was more people in the world like you

Noel the MEA Airbus looks very impressive in the new colour scheme. I have fond memories of the old cedar tree livery that adorned the B720’s at LHR when I first started spotting in the 70’s 👍

Thank you so much for stopping people pushing past the wheelchair users. I’m a full time wheelchair user who cannot stand, so getting on a plane is hard. Transferring from my wheelchair to the planes wheelchair is hard enough as it is- with the staff always trying to help and actually making things worse even when I say I’m fine/ I have my friend/ family helping and I am fagile as I dislocate easily (I’ve had ground staff actually dislocate joints of mine ‘helping’ before! Thankfully I can relocate them and not miss my flight, but am still in agony for the full flight!) But having impatient passengers pushing past is frustrating, takes away from precious space and is embarrassing as transferring is not pretty and having a dozen strangers staring at you isn’t fun. I wish more passengers were as considerate as you Noel and that the airline would wait for wheelchair passengers to be actually seated before letting the next lot down. Not like the plane is going to take off without them!

Great meeting between you and Josh ❤🎉🎉🎉🎉 the two best reviewers we have thanks a lot for all your nice and best reports

What a treat!! 2 flights in one episode!! Thanks Noel. Stay safe!🤗

Lol Noel's sarcastic comedy is the greatest haha

21:30, 23:12 - What a nice surprise! Cool to see the MEA retro livery (red fin with the green cedar in the white circle) still applied to one of their airplanes. That livery does bring back some memories.

Given that the city got blown apart by one of the largest explosions in history a couple years ago, I'm thinking the airport might not be #1 on the priority list really.

I find it so fascinating that these are all international flights but yet are typical domestic flight times in Australia. it makes its seem these places are so close together. not the typical 8 hour plus international flight to south east Asia

Noel, absolutely brilliant content, well laid out with excellent editing and narrative skills! You have and continue to give us insight into fascinating airlines, places and people. Thank you for all that you do!

Noel, I'm a huge fan of your channel and a long time subscriber in additional to be an aviation geek such as yourself. I've been waiting so long for you to try MEA and review it, and finally here it is, thank you so much! btw the name of the dish is moughrabiye & MEA is well known for its delicious inflight meal, & Lebanon in general is well known for its delicious food, I'm glad you enjoyed it, as we say in Lebanon "Sahten". I'm Lebanese & proud to have MEA as my national airline, Cheers! P.S: we don't have deserts in Lebanon, just mountains full of snow & the sea coast.

One of the points I like most about Noel's videos is the flight cost and price per mile at the end of the vid. I haven't seen anyone else do this and it gives a really good indication of who charges what from Economy to First Class across all of the Airlines, so thanks for that Noel! 👏👏👏

I am from Lebanon myself and live in dubai, as well as a huge fan, i do agree the airport is not the best, but the crew and the food is definitely the highlight

I'm glad you enjoyed your MEA flights Noel.My Wife is Lebanese and we've flown with them many times since 1992, on their 707s 747s and Airbus.Great pilots and friendly efficient tri lingual cabin crew.I knew a few people in MEA at LHR and often got an upgrade and even sat in the cockpit a few times for take off from LHR and landing at Beirut-an incredible experience coming into beirut at night!I once did LHR-LCA in Apollo class with Cyprus Airways-another great airline, but i think they are no longer flying.Do visit Cyprus and Lebanon, you will enjoy both countries!Thanks for all your excellent videos, i love your laid back style and very informative commentaries!

Noel is so nice to everyone no matter what job they have

First thing is the cabin crew uniform is nice and the care they have i love it

It’s always interesting to see your point of view on things when others have been unhappy with the same airline. Love these videos even if you were without your bag for a short period 😬😬

Nice one Noel, really enjoy your content. I get to fly to an new and interesting destination for 30 minutes every Sunday thanks to your videos.

Incredible how some people are in a rush to get on a plane. Well done for using your size to stop them barging past the lady in the wheelchair 👍🏼 great video as always mate.

Good video as usual, Noel. About 15 years ago I spent a year working in Beirut, fascinating place, but IMO the worst drivers in the world! Used MEA a lot through CDG and Milan, decent airline. Tragic what is happening in the country now, though.......it's been pretty much bankrupt for years. I remember the shabby airport that had incredibly tight security outide - not surprising, given their neighbours - and some very rude people. But by and large they were fine: while I was there another flare up with Israel happened, and a colleague rold me that if it escalated he would smuggle me across the border to Syria and a fishing boat to Cyprus! Fun times.

I might be the only one but I prefer when you do your solo travels Noel :D Thanks for another great video!

I love the new MEA livery. I an also a huge fan of Beirut; in is a city I definitely recommend exploring.

Fantastic video! I kept waiting for Josh to "coincidentally" turn up in Beirut.

Top man Noel Philips trying to stop the ignoramuses pushing past the elderly lady with walking difficulties. 💗

Hi Noel, I want to thank you for all your reviews and travels. I am a retired UAL Ramper and love to travel myself. I watch you all the time since I found your site. I plan on making more travels myself. You always give me great content and places to visit. Thanks my friend. Looking forward to more of your travels. Greg

These videos always accompany my peanut butter toast and coffee at 6am. Thanks for the early entertainment!!

Aww, I like the little cedar tree on the winglet

Drinking game: Every time Noel mentions the "MEA A321neo", take a sip :D

Not crazy about MEA's new livery, kind of reminds me of the OLD Texas Airlines livery prior to Continental buying them . Love your video's!!! great job as always

Noel I’m your newest Patron love your videos. Praying your wife is doing well. I just moved back to NY after 6yrs in Vegas. They have good hospitals I’m assuming your at UMC it’s a level one trauma center. If your not happy go to Southern Hills in Spring Valley it’s like a hotel and has exelaint doctors. Loved seeing you and Josh at DXB my 2 favorite RU-vidrs. Growing up in NY I always saw MEA airlines at JFK. Loved the retro livery and the new one too. My aunt would tell stories about how Beirut 🇱🇧 was the hot spot to vacation in the 60’s. I’d love to go Lebanon one day on MEA. Great review as always and sending prayers and well wishes your way. Take care and we’ll see you when everything is okay with your wife 🙏

Staff seemed cool flight relaxing service awesome better than allot if planes I've been on.

As a Lebanese person, yeah... they are incredibly impatient, and sometimes downright rude, and it frustrates me too. Try getting a group of Lebanese people to listen to a speaker hahahah, good luck.

Love the livery. So fresh and colourful

Always puts a smile on my face when I watch your video

Beautiful country, beautiful airline too! Your first dish on Dubai flight was moughrabie

Love the howl on the P&W engines, cool as always sir👍

What a lovely airline. I will check them out next time I am in Dubai.

I bet that guy sitting next to you had never heard the East Midlands accent before, Ey up me duck! 😉

Once again I love traveling with you via RU-vid, Noel! As stated before, you are the Lord of Loo Reviews! LOL! I absolutely love your content and also love you standing up for those who are disabled as well. Also happy to hear that Rach is doing well. It's really scary what occurred-I had a similar experience with gallstones! Doctors have said that they can get so bad that they can become septic! I was almost septic with mine! And it found two other things that were even worse than the gallstones were. Again thank you for your videos and I look forward to your future travels!

When the fanatics (on all sides) are not being morons, Beirut is a fabulous city, almost as good as Damascus, it's a shame everyone cannot live in peace.

The meal you opted for is called "Moughrabieh" lol

@Noel Philips *Love the collaboration videos, I hope you guys expand collaboration with other avgeeks in the future!*

Haha so typical of Lebanese people being impatient. It’s always the same way whenever I travel back home to Lebanon

Awesome content as always. Been watching since you had 30k subscribers, haven't stopped since! I do have a question though. How do you find the aircraft history such as who it was delivered to, etc? Thanks for entertaining us all!

Thanks Noel for the video. It looks like the MEA offers pretty good airfare compared to other airlines. Sometimes transiting through certain airports may not be that nice experience. But you didnt have much problem. Good to see you and Josh again in the beginning of the video.

I'm glad you had a great experience on MEA. I flew LCA-BEY and BEY-ATH in August 2022. Both flights were late over an hour before takeoff. Check-in with checked bags at BEY was two hours!! And the power went out. Otherwise, once on the plane, inflight service was acceptable.

I will always have fond memories of MEA when I was a child few London-Beirut-Aden on 747.

People do realise that the plane isn’t going to leave any earlier even if you push and shove your way to your seat.

We love primark ☺️ such a friendly crew

The retro livery is kind of nostalgic, but you're right the new livery is pretty cool looking too.

MEA are awesome!! Most definitely have heard of them

I’ve flown LHR-BEY many times with MEA. Only once have I had a issue with the crew. And yes the food, as seen, they’ll stuff you haha. I’ve been on the older A320s and A330s, I haven’t tried these yet but they look great. Hoping to spot them and that retro A320 you saw when I’m next in Lebanon.

I love your videos noel I am from Cornwall and glad you had a nice trip to the isles of scilly. Thank you for the entertainment

Wonderful and interesting video Noel. Keep up the good work. Take care

Catching up on your videos. Another enjoyable journey You have me tempted to try MEA Flew it as a kid and followed it in airline mags Not sure if i like the new or the old MEA livery better It was fun to watch you and Josh however. The chemistry between you guys is cool I did notice that both of you are in the habit of saying “ yeah” and i was wondering which one of you got the other in the habit lol ! Thanks again.

Every flight, you will have hoards of impatient people, not just MEA, Noel.

Catching up on Videos I missed. When I heard MEA thought of so many MEA flights taken by my family so many years ago when living and working in the ME for so many years. Thanks for all the great content.

Great video. Very nice flight info on the screens.

You need a jingle for the 'What's on TV' segment. During the hour you spend watching the video on Lebanon's Bank their inflation rate doubles and the film is already out of date.

Noel has course 5 of dinner… ‘go on then, I’ll give it a try…’ one more meal Noel, you’ve obviously got to try everything.

Sup Noel, may i say, when its not ur wit & humour, its the kind & mild mannered way in which u carry urself. Much appreciated as a fellow northerner.

Me to like the new Delivery.Great work

Oo I’m early! Once again, a great video from Noel; by far the best aviation youtuber

Haha a Noel Phillips / Josh Cahill cross-over. Great!

MEA do seem good value and the planes looked in goon nick. Always interesting to see places (well mainly airports) that I am unlikely to visit. looking forward to the next video.

Airport transfers do not count as visiting a country ;)

I'm all for Josh and Noel banter. Its the best! 😂😂😂 Also, thank you for showing us MEA, never heard of them until now. ❤

What a lovely flight experience. Fantastic video. Keep it up.

If you want an even nicer narrow-body business class, fly Gulf Air, the national airline of Bahrain. I just flew from BAH-FRA on 14 Sept., 6.5 hours on one of their A321neos. 2+2 business class with proper lay flat seats. Good service and good food, to boot, plus a good personal IFE system. The Falcon Gold lounge in BAH is very nice as well.

Thank you, Noel! Excellent as always. Safe travels!

The reason people rush to get on board is there are many inconsiderate ones who bring their over packed bags and use all the bins. If I have a connecting flight I don't usually have time to wait until everyone deplanes to get my bag at the rear of the plane.

I would love to fly MEA. They look great.👍😊🛫

“Who knew it got hot in Dubai” what a quote 😂

Is MEA a secret airline..? Confusing video title this week, Noel 😆

My favorite channel. Always hilarious and so calming. Just fab vibes.

"Germans have never annoyed anybody in history" is an understatement

Was it only me who stifled a smile when the announcement warned of the overhead bins possibly causing injury as he arrived in Beirut…

Hi Noel you produce great videos that are well worth watching for entertainment and education..

Another great video, Noel! Love watching them!

The great joy I get receiving a notification that Noel uploaded a new video!! Much love from Zimbabwe. Always look forward to your content!❤️

Great Video. Sorry about baggage issue but hay more time with Josh. I saw his video of Mahan Air. That was lovely. Please do more collaborations. As to two flights the planes look nice. As to advertising is it because revenue issues? As to food looks great. Seriously that big meal from Lebanon to Istanbul. Glad flight crew was nice. As to jet ridge that's just uncool. Anycase great video

Germans: "Never caused any issues" Poland and France would like a moment for rebuttal.

Great video Noel!! Love this feature of MEA!!

Good evening once again mate! I have actually heard of MEA, but you in videos involving airlines that are not too popular, I think that you can give them memories of a RU-vid aviator on board!

Nice video! When are you gonna fly onboard the MD80? There’s still some great airlines left that use them

Excellent video Noel,

Serving lots of food is part of Lebanese hospitality. I dined at a Lebanese restaurant at the Dubai Mall in 2009 and the waiters served a fresh meal every 8-10 minutes. They would simply take away the bowls and serve something different in another bowl or plate. After two and a half hours, I was absolutely stuffed. I felt like a python! I have had a number of "strange" transit experiences. The first I remember was in Nairobi on my way to LHR. Already seated with my seatbelt fastened, a member of the cabin crew asked for my passport and walked away. She returned after 5 minutes and handed it back to me. This also happened to me in Dubai on my way to Istanbul. Whilst in line at the pre-boarding gate, one of the Emirates employees asked for my passport and walked away. She returned about 3 minutes later and handed it back without any explanation. The third and probably most interesting was at Hong Kong Airport on my way from Taipei to Dubai. With a 10-hour layover, I decided to exit the airport and go tour Hong Kong City. I did not need a visa for this since I was only going to be in Hong Kong for 4-5 hours. The immigration officer did not understand why I was leaving the airport and tapped a button under her desk. Within seconds, two plainclothes officers whisked me to an interrogation room. It felt like the " Border Security" documentary on National Geographic. After 10 minutes of interrogation, the officers were convinced that I had bonafide plans and that I would return to the airport for my flight to Dubai. My passport was stamped and off I went to Hong Kong City. No hard feelings on my part, I know that people were simply doing their work.

Great Report for our national airlines :) the food of the cheesy balls with chicken was moughrabieh

Love the Dunder Mifflin shirt 😂 I have the exact same one!

Great video, Noel! Finally got Josh out of the way, huh? Lol! The neighborhood I live in has lots of Lebanese. I like their food, like falafel. And they have a very salty cheese that is delicious! Do you have stickers, Noel? I'd love to have one for my suitcase!

Just flew through DXB in January and that Skyteam lounge was great. Only people in there were on my flight ✈️

I remember seeing MEA 747 at Heathrow in the early 80's

Great video as always. Just fyi - the large building built on top of the old runway at Ataturk airport is an emergency hospital. During the pandemic, it was a Covid-19 hospital, right now probably being kept open while we wait for the large Istanbul earthquake (a minimum 7.2 earthquake is expected in the area (very likely there will be 2 or more high magnitude earthquakes), the city has about 200.000 high risk buildings. It will be totally devastating. Also tsunamis are expected after a large tremor so stay away from coastal areas if you are in the city or Marmara region). 😿 The rest of the runway is being turned into a park.

Well done, Noel, and I'm enjoying your RU-vid channel. And I really like your sleeper train videos too.