Counting the ways to bridge the gul

Counting the ways to bridge the gulf.As more carriers open up more routes, travelling to and around the Middle East has never been easier.Edmond Moutran, the 63-year-oldChairman and Chief Executive of Memac Ogilvy & Mather, the multinational advertising and communications company, should know. The Lebanese executive reckons he spends 60% of his working week in the air. 'I spend 200 days in Beirut, 40 days in Dubai, 40 days in Bahrain and 25 in theUK. I also spend one week in each of Cairo, Jordan, Jeddah, Riyadh,Kuwait, Tunis and Algeria. I go toSouth Africa once a year, Barcelona once or twice a year for conferences and I go to Paris four times a year.'He says his choice of airline is dictated by convenience, but his preference is for Middle East Airlines and its 'new aircraft and equipment, and well-trained, fresh and energetic staff'. His second choice is GulfAir, with Emirates third, followed by British Airways and Air France.He always travels with his wife.Liliane, who worked with him until very recently, and prefers to travel first class. He also uses business class. He says he will travel economy 'in an emergency' .He uses airline lounges. '1 want good chairs, plenty of newspapers and television. Airlines that spend millions on decor and have uncomfortable chairs really need to look at themselves.'MEA gets me a car to the airport and they open a special counter for me as an individual,' he says. 'Staff take your boarding pass. check you in and walk you through to the lounge.The airline saves me abollt an hour o f standing i n line. I t shows real respecl.You don't really get this extraspecial treatment on other airlines.With MEA, it's the whole process- that's why I ' m so loyal to them.'So what annoys him most about flying? 'The attitude of crew and staff sometimes,' he says. 'If they're tired of their jobs, they should give il up. I also dislike the casual attitude of ground staff. Employees should be trained to cope with customers who have problems.'Mr Moutran says that problems with ground staff are one of the reasons he hales (ravelling to the US. 'No one 4 ever has time 10 answer a queslion there,' he says. He also doesn't like the lack of openness shown by airlines when there are problems and delays.

Counting the ways to bridge the gulf.
As more carriers open up more routes, travelling to and around the Middle East has never been easier.
Edmond Moutran, the 63-year-old
Chairman and Chief Executive of Memac Ogilvy & Mather, the multinational advertising and communications company, should know. The Lebanese executive reckons he spends 60% of his working week in the air. 'I spend 200 days in Beirut, 40 days in Dubai, 40 days in Bahrain and 25 in the
UK. I also spend one week in each of Cairo, Jordan, Jeddah, Riyadh,
Kuwait, Tunis and Algeria. I go to
South Africa once a year, Barcelona once or twice a year for conferences and I go to Paris four times a year.'
He says his choice of airline is dictated by convenience, but his preference is for Middle East Airlines and its 'new aircraft and equipment, and well-trained, fresh and energetic staff'. His second choice is Gulf
Air, with Emirates third, followed by British Airways and Air France.
He always travels with his wife.
Liliane, who worked with him until very recently, and prefers to travel first class. He also uses business class. He says he will travel economy 'in an emergency' .
He uses airline lounges. '1 want good chairs, plenty of newspapers and television. Airlines that spend millions on decor and have uncomfortable chairs really need to look at themselves.
'MEA gets me a car to the airport and they open a special counter for me as an individual, ' he says. 'Staff take your boarding pass. check you in and walk you through to the lounge.
The airline saves me abollt an hour of standing in line. I t shows real respecl.
You don't really get this extraspecial treatment on other airlines.
With MEA, it's the whole process
- that's why I ' m so loyal to them.'
So what annoys him most about flying? 'The attitude of crew and staff sometimes,' he says. 'If they're tired of their jobs, they should give il up. I also dislike the casual attitude of ground staff. Employees should be trained to cope with customers who have problems.'
Mr Moutran says that problems with ground staff are one of the reasons he hales (ravelling to the US. 'No one 4 ever has time 10 answer a queslion there,' he says. He also doesn't like the lack of openness shown by airlines when there are problems and delays.

Counting the ways to bridge the gulf.
As more carriers open up more routes，travelling to and around the Middle East has never been easier.
Edmond Moutran，the 63-year-old
Chairman and Chief Executive of Memac Ogilvy&Mather，the multinational advertising and communications company，should know. The Lebanese executive reckons he spends 60% of his working week in the air.'I spend 200 days in Beirut，40 days in Dubai，40 days in Bahrain and 25 in the
UK. I also spend one week in each of Cairo，Jordan，Jeddah，Riyadh，
Kuwait，Tunis and Algeria. I go to
South Africa once a year，Barcelona once or twice a year for conferences and I go to Paris four times a year.'
He says his choice of airline is dictated by convenience，but his preference is for Middle East Airlines and its 'new aircraft and equipment，and well-trained，fresh and energetic staff'. His second choice is Gulf
Air，with Emirates third，followed by British Airways and Air France.
He always travels with his wife.
Liliane，who worked with him until very recently，and prefers to travel first class. He also uses business class.He says he will travel economy 'in an emergency' .
He uses airline lounges. '1 want good chairs，plenty of newspapers and television. Airlines that spend millions on decor and have uncomfortable chairs really need to look at themselves.
'MEA gets me a car to the airport and they open a special counter for me as an individual，' he says. 'Staff take your boarding pass.check you in and walk you through to the lounge.
The airline saves me abollt an hour o f standing i n line. I t shows real respecl.
You don't really get this extraspecial treatment on other airlines.
With MEA，it's the whole process
- that's why I ' m so loyal to them.'
So what annoys him most about flying？'The attitude of crew and staff sometimes，' he says. 'If they're tired of their jobs，they should give il up. I also dislike the casual attitude of ground staff. Employees should be trained to cope with customers who have problems.'
Mr Moutran says that problems with ground staff are one of the reasons he hales（ravelling to the US. 'No one 4 ever has time 10 answer a queslion there，' he says.He also doesn't like the lack of openness shown by airlines when there are problems and delays.