80 centimeters apart – Flight ME0204

Opinion news coverage by Racha Shaheen, Contributor

May 26th, 2020

A one-way ticket priced triple it’s normal amount, with the promise of social distancing and ensured safety for all passengers. Except, instead of seating each person two meters away from each other, Middle East Airlines had other plans for this flight. 

Flight ME0204, from London Heathrow to Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport, was one of the few embassy-assembled flights that allowed Lebanese students and citizens the opportunity to go back home to their families amid the global health pandemic of Covid-19. Despite this flight’s ticket costing almost triple the amount of a normal one, people still paid, and Middle East Airlines took advantage of that. 

Once boarded on the plane, each person was seated next to the other with only a shared arm rest between them, rather than the expected empty seat they paid for. It looked as if this were a normal flight from a few months back when traveling was not as complicated as it has become. One person after the other boarded until there were no vacant seats left.

A mask and gloves were the only form of protection from the virus in the confined and air-tight space, no form of distance between anyone. Once this realisation hit, chaos became the only thing welcome on board. 

One traveller in specific was the first to confront those in charge of the flight, demanding to know why he was being seated next to someone, when he had gotten confirmation of social distancing that same day from the Lebanese embassy, ensuring him that all safety measures will be taken. More people started to question what was going on exactly, which led to the documentation of the flight that was being sent to Lebanese political influencer pages on Instagram. The videos quickly blew up and soon enough everyone knew what was happening on the flight before take-off. Footage showed the crew yelling at those filming, claiming they were not allowed to do so. 

The disastrous tale of this flight continues when word gets out that some passengers on board were not tested and were assigned coloured bracelets that distinguished those with symptoms and those without. They were seated at the back of the plane, and were the only one’s getting their money’s worth, since they were seated distant from one another. A repeated sequence of events took place throughout the entirety of the flight – stress, confusion, frustration, speaking up, voices being raised, realisation that there is nothing that can be done, repeat. 

The real question behind this is, when are all the lies and fake promises going to stop? When will companies like MEA begin to value the life of those under their responsibility over their greed? Those who paid £145 to get tested had to sit and bare 5 hours of patience on a chaotic flight while seated centimetres from the next person, breathing the same air as the ones who were accepted to board the flight without a negative test result.

The students who were not offered the 50% discount and had to pay the full amount, and everyone on the plane who was promised a “very pleasant trip”. The outcome of a flight from what once was a respected airline company now exposed as thieves, has opened the eyes of many to see just how corrupt and damaging this society has come to.