IAN GOOLD / BEIRUT
Middle East Airlines is set for privatisation on the back of an expected return to profitability next year "for the first time since 1977", says chairman Mohamad El-Hout.
He estimates the carrier will post operating losses of "less than $10 million" this year, compared to less than $30 million last year and as much as $80 million in 1997. The Beirut-based airline is "ready now" for privatisation, El-Hout adds.
El-Hout, formerly a director of Lebanon's central bank which owns 99.3% of MEA, was drafted in four years ago to turn the flag carrier around in the wake of the 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.
Under a restructuring plan introduced in 2001, he has increased frequency on MEA's strongest routes and dropped weak services, including long-haul operations.
El-Hout has also steered the carrier to a partnership with SkyTeam member Air France, including codesharing on Beirut-Paris services, to US destinations and European points.
He has cut the workforce by 45% to 2,500 while engineering and ground-handling activities have been separated. These productivity improvements have "saved $5 million a year without affecting the level of activity", he says.
MEA will lease three Airbus A330s from International Lease Finance to replace three A310-200s from the second quarter of 2003 and acquire six Airbus A321s to replace leased A320s and an A321.
Source: Flight International
