24 June 1969. A Boeing 747-200B entered service in June 1975 on the Beirut–London route, and later on the Beirut–Paris–New York route from April 1983 until mid-1985. MEA had to adjust its operations due to the Lebanese Civil War between 1975 and 1991 but continued services despite multiple closures of the base at Beirut International Airport. Airbus A310-300s were acquired in 1993 and 1994, followed by an A321-200 in 1997 and the A330-200 (which replaced the A310s) in 2003. The airline has introduced self-check-in kiosks at Beirut International Airport as of July 2010. The airline is also planning on launching the Arabesk Airline Alliance with six other Arab carriers. Their future plans include floating about 25% of their shares on the Beirut Stock Exchange (BSE) as part of a long-term plan to fully privatize the airline. In November 2011, MEA's pilots union staged a 48-hour strike after a captain undergoing cancer treatment was dismissed shortly after going on sick leave. On 28 June 2012, Middle East Airlines joined the SkyTeam alliance to become its 17th member and the second in the Middle East following Saudia. 5,000 staff are employed across the airline group. The central bank of Lebanon, Banque du Liban, owns a majority share of 99.50%. Destinations Middle East Airlines flies to 31 destinations in the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. In addition, Medina is served seasonally, while Mykonos is offered as a seasonal charter destination. Codeshare agreements MEA has codeshare agreements with the following airlines: Aeroflot Air Canada Air Europa Air France Czech Airlines Etihad Airways Gulf Air ITA Airways Kuwait Airways Qatar Airways Royal Jordanian Saudia Sky Express TAROM Tunisair Turkish Airlines Virgin Atlantic MEA also participates in SNCF's (French National Railways) tgvair program. Fleet Current fleet MEA (excluding Cedar Executive) operates an all-Airbus fleet. , it consists of the following aircraft: Historic fleet Airbus A300B4 Airbus A300-600 Airbus A310-200 Airbus A310-300 Airbus A321-200 Avro York Boeing 707-320C Boeing 720B Boeing 747-100 Boeing 747-200B Convair CV-990A de Havilland Comet Douglas DC-3 Douglas DC-4 Sud Aviation SE 210 Caravelle Vickers VC10 Vickers Viscount Fleet development Middle East Airlines firmed up its order for ten Airbus A320neo family aircraft (five A320neo and five A321neo) in January 2013. The order for the A320neo was later converted to five more A321neo aircraft. The first A321neo was delivered on 10 July 2020; the third, delivered 9 October 2020, was the 10,000th A320