Category: Airlines Of Middle East

Budget Oryx: Qatar Airways Early Years

2/8/2023

The rise of the ME3 has been nothing short of meteoric and nowadays this area of the world appears to be involved in (or ruining) everything, not the least football! Anyway back in the 1990s the advent of Emirates and Qatar Airways seemed like nothing special. Just a couple more vanity project national airlines. Nobody seemed especially bothered by them, but of course that would all change in the 2000s as unlimited funding and a useful geographic location changed aviation forever. Qatar Airways is today a very different beast to the airline that began flying in 1994 and here I take a look back at its earliest years.

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Tabriz Feather: Eram Air

25/7/2021

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Iranian aviation is famous for keeping elderly aircraft in the air, but that achievement shouldn't overshadow what is a vibrant civil airline scene, which has at least 16 jet operators in 2021. Even so, some Iranian carriers have fallen by the wayside including the operator Eram Air, an airline whose main claim to fame is probably that it has been represented in 400 scale with a model!

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Israeli Upstart: MAOF Airlines

4/5/2020

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El Al has ruled the Israeli skies ever since Israel came into being and like its home nation is a tenacious fighter for its own interests. As with many national carriers it has not welcomed competition and has done its damnedest to maintain its position with some success. One of the earliest victims of this was a plucky little upstart by the name of MAOF Airlines.

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Alia Pt2: Hashemite Crown 1976-1990

15/1/2019

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It is perhaps in bad taste to say so but Alia benefited from the disintegration of Lebanon into civil war since it effectively ruined the previously strong transfer hub status of Beirut and provided an impetus for Jordan’s national carrier to fill the void. This is all the more ironic since it was the banishment of the Palestinian forces from Jordan and their subsequent arrival in Lebanon which did so much to bring about the Lebanese Civil War.

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Alia Pt1: Hashemite Jewel 1963-1975

30/12/2018

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Despite being involved in three wars against Israel Jordan, ably led by King Hussein, successfully negotiated the murky waters of the Middle East political scene to achieve relative stability for the country and provide the basis from which a successful national airline could be forged. This airline Alia – Royal Jordanian successfully overcame adversity to find itself well placed as it entered the mid-1970s for growth and success.

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Birth of a Titan: Emirates' Early Years

24/10/2018

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When I first saw Emirates at London Gatwick in 1987 I would never have guessed that they would change the face of air travel and grow into a global megacarrier. Yet even in their early years they showed the spark with which they would shakeup the conservative Middle Eastern national carriers and disrupt the networks of long haul carriers like Qantas and British Airways.

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Ezra & Nehemia: Operation Ali Baba

24/8/2017

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Following the transport of the Yemenite Jews, as part of the Magic Carpet operation, there were still further 'opportunities' for Jewish migration to the new Israeli state. Alaska Airlines was not however able to take part in these operations directly, following its fall from grace with the CAB and subsequent fines. Israel still needed a vehicle by which it could transport refugees, ideally one not tainted by a direct Israeli connection and therefore able to operate out of Arabic countries. Out of this was created NEAT.

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On the Wings of Eagles: Operation Magic Carpet

23/8/2017

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Following the creation of the modern state of Israel on May 14, 1948 there was a huge influx of Jews from around the world to their new country assisted by the Jewish Agency for Israel. These included not only holocaust survivors and wealthy Jews from around the world but also entire communities of Jews from Arab majority countries and elsewhere. One of the most famous of these mass migrations was that which is popularly known as Operation Magic Carpet and Alaska Airlines had a prominent role to play.

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The Last Pax 707s: Saha's Tanker Troopers

14/8/2017

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The rather hilariously named "axis of evil" countries have certainly been a boon for the aviation enthusiast. If you can swallow your values you can travel to North Korea and sample some classic Russian types, or more plausibly you can visit the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran is hardly in the same stable as the DPRK and until relatively recently was a mecca for enthusiasts hoping to get a trip on the Boeing 707.

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MEA Cedar Jets Pt3: 720s For the Long-haul

1/4/2017

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Sectarian tensions that had been bubbling under the surface since the mid-60s burst into full view during the 1970s and the resulting civil war led to MEA itself continually having to take up refugee status. Despite this disruption and the destruction of yet more of the airline's fleet MEA kept operating and survived the conflict to emerge in the 1990s weakened but able to stake its place in lebanon.

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MEA Cedar Jets Pt2: Coronados to the Rescue

29/3/2017

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The destruction of nearly two thirds of its fleet would have been enough to kill any other airline but Middle East Airlines was made of tougher stuff and as the situation inside Lebanon went from bad to worse it would need every ounce of resilience to stay in operation. Nevertheless despite its losses in 1968 a replacement fleet was just around the corner.

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MEA Cedar Jets Pt1: Lebanese Fleet Gifted

26/3/2017

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From the 1950s the history of Lebanon is one of sadness, destruction, and finally from the 1990s rebirth. Through it all the national carrier, Middle East Airlines, has kept flying showing a level of resilience unmatched anywhere in aviation history. The late 1960s was an especially difficult period for the carrier, which due to the hostile action of Israel faced extinction. Tied up in this was MEA's pair of VC10s, both leased aircraft and not the Super VC10s the airline had originally wanted.

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Middle East Tridents Pt2: Iraqi Airways

25/3/2016

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Despite Kuwait Airways being first to order the Trident 1E it was their neighbouring country Iraq's national airline, Iraqi Airways, which was the first to put it into service, on October 1, 1965. They also received three aircraft and due to the secretive and repressive regime of the Ba'ath party they seem to have led quite leisurely lives. Their final fates seem shrouded in mystery but their hulks may have made it into the early 90s.

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Middle East Tridents Pt1: Kuwait Airways

23/3/2016

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It's well known that de Havilland's slavish adherence to BEA's requirements for the Trident led to the creation of an aircraft which was so tailored to BEA's narrow set of requirements as to be almost unsaleable. Even though the Trident was more technologically advanced than the Boeing 727 it was simply no competition for the larger longer ranged Boeing. Still thanks largely to the UK's friendly ties with former colonial possessions a few sales were made and in fact both neighbours Iraq and Kuwait would become Trident operators during the early 1960s.

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Gulf Air: Rise of the Golden Falcon

6/2/2015

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Gulf Air has been flying since 1950 and the Golden Falcon always brightened up my boyhood trips to Heathrow on their lovely Tristars. The airline grew quickly from the mid 1970s through to the mid 1990s expanding its network to cover the Old World continents, including Australia, with a large fleet of modern Boeing and Airbus jets.

For the last twenty years the story hasn't been so happy but that hasn't stopped the carrier delivering to a high standard and introducing a beautiful livery in 2003. Here's Gulf Air's story...

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Budget Oryx: Qatar Airways Early Years

Tabriz Feather: Eram Air

Israeli Upstart: MAOF Airlines

Alia Pt2: Hashemite Crown 1976-1990

Alia Pt1: Hashemite Jewel 1963-1975

Birth of a Titan: Emirates' Early Years

Ezra & Nehemia: Operation Ali Baba

On the Wings of Eagles: Operation Magic Carpet

The Last Pax 707s: Saha's Tanker Troopers

MEA Cedar Jets Pt3: 720s For the Long-haul

MEA Cedar Jets Pt2: Coronados to the Rescue

MEA Cedar Jets Pt1: Lebanese Fleet Gifted

Middle East Tridents Pt2: Iraqi Airways

Middle East Tridents Pt1: Kuwait Airways

Gulf Air: Rise of the Golden Falcon

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