Middle East Airlines · ME · SkyTeam · Accra ⇄ Beirut
Twice a week a Middle East Airlines Airbus lands in Accra before dawn from Beirut. For Ghana's Lebanese community, many of whose families have traded in Accra and Kumasi for more than a century, it is the direct line home. MEA is also famous for something else: it kept flying through Lebanon's civil war, the 2006 war and the 2026 conflict, when most foreign airlines stayed away. Here is what flies, when, and the honest picture of Lebanon today.
Middle East Airlines was founded in 1945, two years after Lebanon's independence, and is today owned almost entirely by Lebanon's central bank. During the civil war of 1975 to 1990 it went on flying from a battered Beirut airport. In 2006, when bombs hit the runways, its crews flew aircraft out along the taxiways to save them. In 2026, when most foreign airlines suspended Beirut, MEA kept a reduced schedule going. For Lebanese people at home and abroad, it is more than an airline.
Key facts
MEA flies a rotation Beirut–Accra–Abidjan–Accra–Beirut on Wednesdays and Saturdays. A separate rotation serves Lagos and Abidjan on other days. Accra and Abidjan are on GMT; Beirut is two hours ahead in winter and three in summer.
| Flight | Route | Times (local) | Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| ME575 | Beirut → Accra | 02:05 → 05:35 | Wed, Sat |
| ME575 | Accra → Abidjan | 06:35 → 07:30 | Wed, Sat |
| ME576 | Abidjan → Accra | morning → about 10:00 | Wed, Sat |
| ME576 | Accra → Beirut | 11:00 → 20:15 in summer, about 19:15 in winter | Wed, Sat |
Read this before booking
These times come from flight logs for June to August 2026. In August 2026 Beirut airport saw cancellations and delays as regional tension rose, and MEA retimed several flights at short notice. Check your flight on mea.com.lb the day before and the day of travel. Whether the short Accra–Abidjan leg can be booked on its own is not clear, so ask MEA directly.
Local time in both cities, the weather at this moment, and a converter between cedis, Lebanese pounds and the main currencies.
Say it the Lebanese way
The classic Lebanese greeting mixes three languages in one breath: "Hi, kifak, ça va?"
Lebanon is a small country with an enormous history: Phoenician ports, Roman temples, Crusader castles, the cedar forests of the mountains and a capital that rebuilt itself again and again. It is also a country in crisis. The economy collapsed in 2019, the Beirut port explosion of 2020 destroyed much of the city centre, and in 2026 war came again, with Israeli strikes across the south, the Beqaa valley and parts of Beirut. Lebanon's ties with Ghana are old. Lebanese traders settled on the Gold Coast from the late nineteenth century, and their descendants are part of Ghanaian business life today.
The honest part: Lebanon in October 2026
The United States renewed its Level 4 "Do Not Travel" warning for Lebanon on 23 October 2026. Australia also advises against all travel, and Spain has urged its citizens to leave while the airport remains open. Beirut airport is operating, but flights can be cancelled or retimed at short notice. Most travel insurance does not cover trips against such advice. If you travel to see family or for urgent reasons, register with your embassy, keep your ticket flexible and follow local news closely.
Lebanon in brief
MEA flies from Beirut to Europe, the Gulf and the eastern Mediterranean. Honestly, while Lebanon is under travel warnings, routing a journey to Europe or the Gulf through Beirut makes little sense. Direct airlines from Accra are the better choice. These are MEA's main markets, with their capitals.
MEA lands in Accra at dawn on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Many passengers are Lebanese-Ghanaian families returning home; others are visitors on their first trip. Start with Accra, then go west to the castles at Cape Coast and Elmina, or north to Kumasi, where Lebanese traders have been part of the city for generations.
Accra International Airport December in Ghana
Airport pickup with free internet, ideal after a dawn landing, private vehicle hire and a three-destination tour, booked before you land. Entrance fees are included in the tour price; tips are not included but always welcome.
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Updated and fact-checked: 29 October 2026. Timetables from flight logs for June to August 2026; travel warnings checked against the US advisory of 23 October 2026 and other official sources. Always confirm times with the airline and the current travel advice before booking. Text and research by Remo Kurka for GhanaFlights.info. This website carries no Google advertising.