Excavation work on MEA training center starts

Center will offer state of the art training to pilots and crew from all over the region

Excavation work on the new MEA training center, that will also train pilots and cabin crew from all over the region has started. The new center, coming up next to Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, will take three years to complete and will cost between $60 million and $80 million, an airline source said.

The cornerstone for the advanced flight training center was laid in November 2008 by Chairman of the MEA, Mohammad El-Hout and the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Ghazi Aridi. The center was first proposed by MEA's Chairman in early August 2008.

The training center will cover 20,000m2 of land area of which 10,000 square meters of building area, including three underground floors and three above ground floors

The center will offer state of the art flight simulators, cabin simulators, aircraft maintenance training, and commercial training on marketing, sales, reservations, and customer service. The center will include an auditorium, a library, classrooms, a clinic, a cafeteria, and underground parking.

The airlines last flight simulator, a B707 simulator, was stolen by Israeli forces in 1982 and taken back to Tel Aviv.

On a separate note, MEA formally joined the SkyTeam Alliance last month (June 28). The global airline alliance has 17 members, among these: Aeroflot, Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Kenya Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air, Saudia, TAROM, and Vietnam Airlines.

Reported by Rana Freifer