Favorite Middle East Airline?

[jagalubnan]

My favvvvvvvvorite of course is MEA

[Brockster]

What about Etihad?

I could have voted for them but I guess I have to go with Emirates. But, they really pack em in on those flights 3-4-3 on a 777 is brutal!

I can NEVER fly with Egypt Air again. Wow!

EDIT: Honorable mention to Qatar too. I enjoyed flying with them.

[NicholasB]

I went with Qatar. I guess I was a lucky one, flight was almost empty and the service was great.

NicholasB

[Dorito_25]

I was also going to ask "what about Etihad?"

I haven't been on either of those airlines...sadly. But apparantly Etihad are very good and Emirates. so i will go for emirates.

[toyotaboy95]

I have to go with Emirates in this case. I love their A380 but hate their 777, I mean what kind of greedy airline stuffs 3-4-3 in Economy?

[ICEcoldair881]

united, with their 2-5-2 configured B777-200s. they might not do that anymore though, but my mom HATED that!

[Brockster]

united, with their 2-5-2 configured B777-200s. they might not do that anymore though, but my mom HATED that!

That's actually my favorite configuration between the three. Although, that's only if I can get on one of the sides or an aisle seat in the middle.

[T8KE0FF]

You left out the fastest growing airline in the middle east, Etihad Airways!! I would vote for them although Emirates and Etihad are equal so emirates cause etihad isn't there 

[Lonesome_Phoenix]

Ok, I live in Jordan and I did some traveling, here's what I think:

Egypt Air: didn't fly this one, but as I heard all Egyptian airlines are cra*

El-Al: dono

Emirates: well yea the fastest growing airline but after the last economic crash they were in serious trouble, so Abu Dhabi helped Dubai out with some cash in exchange of a share of Emirates to be bought by Etihad , all in all their fleet is new and clean and they are very professional.

Gulf Air: Flew from Amman to Doha, and back, the worst flying experience I ever had.

Kuwait Airways: Old fleet and corruption ate their glory, used to be good but not anymore.

MEA: Dono

Qatar Airways: I lived in Qatar for 2 years and flew QA, well they ARE wannabe-like-Emirates but from what I heard they are very very professional and have very good service.

RJ: Did a couple of flights with them, not my first choice.

Saudi Arabian: I flew once from Amman to Riadh, was praying the whole time we don't crash!

Yemenia: Dono.

[bigdogshark62]

united, with their 2-5-2 configured B777-200s. they might not do that anymore though, but my mom HATED that!

She's not the only one who hated it.  I flew UAL on a couple flights LAX-AKL with that arrangement, and it was a little slice of H-E-(double hockey sticks)...  I can't imagine 3-4-3 would be any better.  Did Emirates do that because of the economy?  Because I remember them spouting all sorts of glorific statements about how wonderful their 3-3-3 setup in the 777 was...

[toyotaboy95]

Emirates: well yea the fastest growing airline but after the last economic crash they were in serious trouble, so Abu Dhabi helped Dubai out with some cash in exchange of a share of Emirates to be bought by Etihad , all in all their fleet is new and clean and they are very professional.

They aren't really suffering that much. In April, DXB had traffic go ▲3.1%.
The only regions growing in this recession are Mainland China  ▲20% @PEK (exc. Hong Kong, Macau), the Middle East and possibly India (can't tell the percentage growth yet). All the others are dropping really badly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_busiest_airports_by_passenger_traffic

[Brockster]

They aren't really suffering that much. In April, DXB had traffic go ▲3.1%.
The only regions growing in this recession are Mainland China  ▲20% @PEK (exc. Hong Kong, Macau), the Middle East and possibly India (can't tell the percentage growth yet). All the others are dropping really badly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World's_busiest_airports_by_passenger_traffic

Wow! PEK passed LHR. 

[Lonesome_Phoenix]

They aren't really suffering that much.

Yes they are, did you know that EA is shutting down the electricity in all of their corporate buildings for a couple of minutes every day to save on Electricity??

[toyotaboy95]

Yes they are, did you know that EA is shutting down the electricity in all of their corporate buildings for a couple of minutes every day to save on Electricity??

Umm...i dun think so. They have like the lowest operating costs, comparable to LCCs, with a new fuel-efficient fleet + no taxes + heavy reliance on connecting traffic + growing market. At least they're still making a profit.