“Rice wings” fly only to bearers of dollars!

On February 25, the “Middle East Airlines” (Middle East) decided to stop sales of airline tickets at its offices for a period of three months, and kept booking tickets “online” via the electronic payment card in dollars as the only option for those wishing to travel.The argument, at the time, was to activate the work of travel agencies whose owners were complaining of “unfairness” that had befallen them with the beginning of the deterioration of the exchange rate of the lira against the dollar They were obligated to pay the bills for selling tickets in dollars, while the “subsidized” national company was selling tickets on the basis of the official exchange rate, which led to a rush of travelers to its offices. Accordingly, it appeared that the company was providing a service to the travel agencies by withdrawing and vacating the yard. Actually, the data predict what goes further than that.
In principle, this “service” was supposed to end last May. However, the company continues to this day refraining from selling tickets in its 11 offices distributed in various regions, restricting the option of electronic reservation in dollars only. While company officials invoke the Corona crisis for not opening offices to clients, informed sources concerned with the aviation and travel file confirm that the reason for this decision is mainly “the company’s keenness not to harm its profits due to the exacerbation of the exchange rate crisis”, and “graduation to neutralize its profits from the crisis,” noting that The national company is supposed to sell the Lebanese at the official exchange rate and in the national currency.
In conclusion, the Lebanese are forced to secure their own dollars in order to be able to board the planes of the national company, either through an electronic payment card or by resorting to travel agencies that purchase dollars and handle the reservation process. According to the sources, these offices give the traveler the choice between buying dollars according to the market exchange rate and transferring them in the interest of the company, or by charging them about 70% of the ticket value in dollars and the remaining 30% at 4,200 pounds to the dollar, which is the price of the “aviation dollar” as it has become customary.
This policy comes in the context of the company’s pursuit of accumulating profits that it intends to “smuggle” into its accounts abroad, at a time when the country is begging for “fresh dollars” to finance the import of subsidized goods; Money paid by travelers via international payment cards does not enter Lebanon and is transferred to the company’s accounts abroad (See MEA Dollar Smuggling).

A “brother” of $ 50 for airline tickets for those coming from countries not covered by the decision to conduct an examination at the airport

Middle East’s investment in the economic crisis coincides with its investment in successive crises, including the “Corona” pandemic, taking advantage of the file of evacuating expatriates to Lebanon in the past months, by doubling the prices of travel cards for those wishing to return, as well as taking advantage of the procedure for obliging travelers to Lebanon Conducting pcr examinations and “deceiving” a large number of them with “sniping” fifty dollars for each traveler (the pcr examination, according to the Ministry of Health pricing, costs 150 thousand pounds). Moreover, in the second clause of Circular No. 52/2 issued by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, airlines must collect $ 50 for every passenger coming from Iraq, Syria, Turkey and African countries, the cost of conducting the examination upon arrival at the airport, while those coming from The rest of the countries between conducting the examination after 72 hours or committing to home or hotel quarantine for 10 days after their arrival. According to “Al-Akhbar” information, the “Middle East” added the $ 50 price tag for all cards, regardless of the country from which its planes take off. Thus, for example, travelers coming from London a few days ago paid an additional cost on the card, without undergoing any pcr examination upon arrival at the airport, “as we were informed that it is not necessary to conduct it and to be satisfied with home quarantine,” according to what one of them confirmed to “Al-Akhbar”.

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60% online cash
Some airlines (such as the Emirates and Turkish Airlines) imposed on travel agencies to pay 60% of the cost of a ticket in dollars “Fresh” by paying directly “online”, while the remaining 40% is paid by depositing it in the accounts of the International Aviation Association (IATA). The decision came against the background of holding the funds of these companies in the “Citibank” bank, where the Union accounts, at the request of the Banque du Liban, and as a kind of guarantee for the companies to collect part of their dues. And the Governor of the Banque du Liban, Riad Salameh, asked, last February, from Citibank, to freeze the money transfer operations that he undertakes in favor of IATA, noting that this bank is approved by the union that “collects” sales invoices from travel agencies in Lebanon. Tickets are according to the Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP), whereby billing funds are transferred to the airline approximately every two weeks. At the time, it was said that the freezing decision came against the background of suspicions related to “smuggling” funds by a number of travel agencies through ticket sales to other offices outside Lebanon. (See Smuggling money through “exporting” travel tickets?)However, the decision is still in effect!