An Appeal For MENA's Missing Models: A Middle Eastern Wishlist Part 1

[abdulmohiuddin]

Introduction

Among one of the more neglected regions in 1/400 scale would be the Greater Middle East and North Africa. You might say "that's false, NG is always releasing some Qatar's and Gemini loves Emirates so it's not neglected Abdul" Well, I'd like to point out that those are Persian Gulf airlines and the Persian Gulf is only part of the Middle East. The Middle East, and in this case the Greater Middle East and North Africa region stretches westwards from Morocco, southwards to Sudan and Somalia, northwards to Turkey and eastwards towards Pakistan. This gives manufacturers a wide array of choice to choose from, although I myself will acknowledge that some of these releases might be commercially nonviable to produce, but I wish to show people that these exist.

The criteria I'll use to include airlines within this wishlist if it's a:
- Flag Carrier
- Large LCC
- Airline of Significance to its Respective Home Country(For example, what Virgin Atlantic is for the UK)

The criteria I'll use to choose the aircraft of each respective airline within this wishlist if it:
- Forms a majority of their fleet
- Would be the only commercially viable aircraft of the airline to be produced as a model
- Doesn't from a majority of their fleet BUT is replacing parts of their fleet(Ex. FlyDubai's 737 Max's)

So with criteria established, let's look at what could be made from the Greater Middle East and North Africa

Algeria:
Tassilli Airlines: Owned by Sonatrach, the state-owned oil company, Tassilli is primarily a domestic airline with a few routes to France and Turkey. The only viable model that could be produced is its 737-800. No models of Tassilli seem to have ever been made in any scale so this could be a good start.

Air Algerie: The Algerian flag carrier, it has yet to get any representation of its current fleet. Two viable models exist, its A330-220 and its 737-800, as they form the majority or only part of its long and short haul fleet. More likely to sell than Tassilli. The airline also has orders for the A350-1000 and the A330-900 so those will be models to look forward to.

Cyprus:
Cyprus Airways: Flag carrier of Cyprus. Although an A320-200 was made by Aeroclassics in 2012, no model exists of the new livery nor of the 2015 revival of the airline. It only has 2 A320-200's in its fleet so the choice is easy.

Egypt:
FlyEgypt: A new Egyptian LCC, it uses a fleet of 737's to carry around the Middle East and parts of Europe. It has yet to get a single release in 1/400 so a 737-800 could be a good start.

Iran:
Iran has a very diverse air travel industry and for the sake of shortening this list, I believe it would be best to cover it as a separate post. I will link that to this post and cover it soon.

Iraq:
Iraqi Airways: Although the Iraqi Flag Carrier has seen 9 models released about it, only 1 of those depict the modern post-2003 Iraqi Airways with that being a 747-400. A few viable models exist of the airline, its sole 777-200LR, its 737-800 and its future replacements the 737 Max 8 and its 787-8 which are just starting to enter the fleet. An A220-300 could also be produced however I would imagine it wouldn't sell that well.

Fly Baghdad: Iraqi LCC, mainly links Iraq with other Middle Eastern countries. 737-800

Jordan:
Royal Jordanian Airlines: Although it has had decent representation within the scale, I have only included it to bring attention to its A320 family fleet, with their fleet including the A319, A320 and A321. One of their A321's wears a retro livery so that could be a viable release.

Kuwait
Kuwait Airways: The Kuwaiti Flag Carrier has seen its fair share of releases, but similar to Royal Jordanian, I wish to bring attention to the A320ceo's and neo's it operates.

Jazeera Airways: Notable for being the first privately owned carrier in the Middle East, it has yet to be released in 1/400(excluding the company exclusive model by Gemini), it operates a fleet of A320ceo's and A320neo's which are replacing the ceo's.

A Part 2 will be posted in this thread to finish off the wishlist.

 

[JJ Skippy]

Those Irqai Airways look interesting to me because of the livery. Hopefully we do see some more Middle Eastern releases in the future, this looks like it could have some great potential.

 

[LeoMuse747]

Very exotic airlines and liveries. Would be great to see them all produced!
Sadly some smaller ones like Tassili Airlines might still be neglected. I guess chances are much better for bigger players like Kuwait Airways and Royal Jordanian.

Even Air Algerie is quite underrated too. They have just ordered a bunch of new jets, including the A350. That should remind the model manufacturers about the existance of a certain flag carrier in Algeria

Iraqi Airways 787 could be a nice release by NG or JC Wings.

 

[Atlspotter]

Id love to see Oman air and the Kuwait A330-800neo

 

[abdulmohiuddin]

Very exotic airlines and liveries. Would be great to see them all produced!
Sadly some smaller ones like Tassili Airlines might still be neglected. I guess chances are much better for bigger players like Kuwait Airways and Royal Jordanian.

Even Air Algerie is quite underrated too. They have just ordered a bunch of new jets, including the A350. That should remind the model manufacturers about the existance of a certain flag carrier in Algeria

Iraqi Airways 787 could be a nice release by NG or JC Wings.

Oh you're 100% right, the only ones I really think would ever be done are the flag carriers, but I think there's still some hope that some of the LCC's such as Jazeera Airways could be done, given how NG released the pair of FlyDubai's last month.

 

[abdulmohiuddin]

Iraqi Airways 787-8 announced by JC Wings

 

[1/400collector]

how about some classics from the middle east?
there is a ton of classics planes that need to be made here are a few examples:
1. Royal Jordanian 747-200 JY-AFA in the last livey.

2. Egypt Air 747-300 SU-GAM

3. Kuwait Airways 747-200 9K-ADA

 

[1/400collector]

this trio was never made by any brand!

 

[LeoMuse747]

this trio was never made by any brand!

Dragon did the Royal Jordanian:

https://database.diecastmodelaircraft.com/model/13483

Magic did the Egyptair:

https://database.diecastmodelaircraft.com/model/17870

But I do agree these three should get newer releases in updated moudls.
It seems to me that Dragon did the Royal Jordanian too dark. Looks almost black instead of a dark grey color.

 

[abdulmohiuddin]

Magic did the Egyptair:

https://database.diecastmodelaircraft.com/model/17870

God bless you if you have a magic model that has no QC issues, plus I doubt there are that many of those kicking so you might as well say it was never made

 

[abdulmohiuddin]

how about some classics from the middle east?
there is a ton of classics planes that need to be made here are a few examples:
1. Royal Jordanian 747-200 JY-AFA in the last livey.
View attachment 18900
2. Egypt Air 747-300 SU-GAM
View attachment 18901
3. Kuwait Airways 747-200 9K-ADA
View attachment 18902

Also a Classic's Middle Eastern wishlist is a great idea

 

[1/400collector]

I think that most people don't even realise how many amazing classics middle eastern models we can have

 

[LeoMuse747]

God bless you if you have a magic model that has no QC issues, plus I doubt there are that many of those kicking so you might as well say it was never made

Yeah that's true. The Magic 747s usually suffer from paint bubbling. I also don't really like their mould, so basically I won't be adding any of their models to my collection anyway. These 3 Jumbos would be great if released by bigBird/JC or even in the much awaited NG mould.

Let's hope Phoenix isn't reading this thread

 

[karun83]

Since this is a wishlist thread, and not confined to a particular scale, I would like to inform the OP that Tassili Airlnes, Iraqi Airways and Air Algerie B738WL have all been done by Hogan wings in 1:200 scale (plastic). If its the diecast model you mean, then havent been done. But since they are done by Hogan, it makes them good models for starters, due an accurate mold, accurate color pantones and more importantly removable gears. Just that all these are/were exclusives. The Tassili and Algerie were both Boeing Exclusives. The Iraqi B738WL being only a sample (also add their A320, both Hogan samples), that was made in quantities of 4/5 models each. I have these 3x Hogan Wings B738WLs and the Iraqi A320 models in my collection and I also acquired the recent release of the IF200 RJ B747, which is again an excellent model. But yes, I have been an advocate of these 'exotic' middle eastern liveries for a long time, and wont hesitate to buy any/all of them if ever made.

 

[1/400collector]

Yeah that's true. The Magic 747s usually suffer from paint bubbling. I also don't really like their mould, so basically I won't be adding any of their models to my collection anyway. These 3 Jumbos would be great if released by bigBird/JC or even in the much awaited NG mould.

Let's hope Phoenix isn't reading this thread

I honestly don't believe that we will see NG classics 747 mould in the next 6 months. It's been over 4 month since they revealed the 747-8 and we have yeet to see an actual model of that 747-8

 

[LeoMuse747]

I honestly don't believe that we will see NG classics 747 mould in the next 6 months. It's been over 4 month since they revealed the 747-8 and we have yeet to see an actual model of that 747-8

I agree with you!

 

[1/400collector]

I honestly don't understand what in god's name is going inside of NG mind

 

[abdulmohiuddin]

I honestly don't understand what in god's name is going inside of NG mind

I think NG has bitten off more than then can chew rn, and they're trying to eat what's on their plate first before adding more. That Atlas Air 747-8 was announced as a future release and we have no clue what that means in terms of a release date. At least they are taking their time with this, and I hope the wait is worth it

 

[OscarBravo992]

I think NG has bitten off more than then can chew rn, and they're trying to eat what's on their plate first before adding more. That Atlas Air 747-8 was announced as a future release and we have no clue what that means in terms of a release date. At least they are taking their time with this, and I hope the wait is worth it

I agree. They have bitten off more than they can chew by attempting to get people on a ‘hype train’. I don’t know why, because NG already has a strong following and a large market share, so it’s not like they need to draw in more customers. I think that the best thing they can do is forget about future releases, they are a terrible idea, as JC has shown us.

 

[abdulmohiuddin]

Part 2:
Note: I would wish to clarify that I have only taken 1/400 scale in account, when I talk about if a model was made or not. I apologize as it seemed to have caused a bit of confusion.

Lebanon:
Middle Eastern Airlines: The airline has been quite well represented within 1/400 scale and the only model that is left to be released is an A320 in the normal livery, as the Skyteam and MEA Retro's have been done already. I don't think this one is too high priority as they seem like they'll get phased out soon in favour for the A320neo family.


Morocco:
Royal Air Maroc: Considering that Royal Air Maroc has 30 737-800's in service, its a strange omission from the scale. None seem to have been painted in the new livery that adornes their Dreamliners and 737-8 Max, so perhaps it's worth waiting for them to be repainted.


Royal Air Maroc Express: Regional subsidiary of the above, operates ATR-72's within Morocco and to the Iberian Peninsula. Hey you never know with JC Wings, they might just make this randomly.


Oman:
SalamAir: Oman's only LLC, it flies A320 and A321neos


Part 3 coming soon, you'd think sitting on your bottom writing this won't been so taxing huh? Also someone did bring up the idea of Middle Eastern classics, that one I'll try and get on it as well soon