Middle East Airlines (MEA) has evacuated aircraft from Beirut, Lebanon and have sent them to Istanbul as a security precaution caused by the ongoing conflict in Israel.
⚠️ 🇱🇧 MEA, la compagnie libanaise, annonce envoyer immédiatement 5 (4 Airbus A321neo & 1 Airbus A330) de ses avions à Istanbul par mesure de sécurité.
— air plus news (@airplusnews) October 16, 2023
▫️En cas de guerre avec Israël, l’aéroport de International Beyrouth sera rapidement visé par les bombes. pic.twitter.com/boRUDz88xK
It is understood that the airline is sending a total of five aircraft, consisting of four Airbus A321neos and one Airbus A330 to the Turkish airport.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
MEA Evacuates Aircraft From Beirut: Parked in Istanbul…

As per data from Planespotters.net, it appears that at the time of writing (16/10/23 @ 2025 UK time), MEA have evacuated four of the proposed five aircraft from Beirut to Lebanon. They are as follows:
- T7-ME3 – Airbus A321neo – Parked October 15.
- T7-ME4 – Airbus A321neo – Parked October 13.
- T7-ME5 – Airbus A321neo – Parked October 15.
- OD-MEB – Airbus A330-200 – Parked October 13.
It is currently unclear which Airbus A321neo will be the fifth and final aircraft from the carrier, but the list of remaining jets to be sent to Istanbul is as follows:
- T7-ME1
- T7-ME2
- T7-ME6
- T7-ME7
- T7-ME8
- T7-ME9
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ADS-B data has been spotty in the region since the conflict in Israel began. We have data, courtesy of RadarBox.com for T7-ME4 & OD-MEB, which you will see below.

T7-ME4 departed Beirut as MEA1263 on Friday October 13 at 1625 local time, and proceeded north to the Turkish airport, landing there at 1807 local time.

OD-MEB, the only Airbus A330 to be stored in Istanbul so far for this, departed from the Lebanon capital three minutes before T7-ME4 did, and arrived at 1801 local time that day.
This remains a developing story. As soon as we ascertain the fifth aircraft to be evacuated, then we will update the article accordingly.

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