Rabat – “They have trusted us since 2008,” reads the advertising line of this year’s International Marrakech Air show.
While the message may come across as another catchy slogan that eulogizes more than it delivers, the reality on the ground at the International Marrakech Air Show usually matches the sentiment conveyed in the slogans.
The 2018 Marrakech Air Show, which opened its doors on Wednesday, October 24, at the RMAF military base in Marrakech, is set to end on October 27. This year the four-day show expects 300 exhibitors, proof it has grown considerably to become a global sensation in the aviation industry.
While Morocco’s aerospace industry has gone through positive bouts between 2010 and 2016, this year’s Marrakech Air Show, as it inaugurates the event’s 10th anniversary, is set to attract more investors and exhibitors.
Participants range from military to civil aviation companies, including Boeing, Airbus, Air France, Turkish Aerospace, Gulf Stream, and the US Air Force, among many others.
Taking to Twitter after yesterday’s opening ceremony, the American embassy noted the event’s success and Morocco’s rapidly growing aviation industry.
“Aerospace is now the largest sector in Morocco’s economy. That’s why the Marrakech Air Show is growing every year, and why the USA is proud to have been part of this tradition since it began in 2008,” the embassy tweeted.
Since its inception in 2008, the International Marrakech Air Show has annually convened the leading names of the aeronautical ecosystem.
Gradually securing the trust of hundreds of exhibitors and investors that have been accompanying the show since its conception a decade ago, Marrakech Air show has taken Morocco’s then embryonic aeronautical industry to a level of maturity.
The show has outgrown its modest aspirations at the origin and is now “part of Morocco’s vision to develop an aviation base and strengthen the aviation sector.”
The vision is to propel Morocco’s aviation as the best in the African continent and a top performer on the global stage. At the same time, organizers hope to channel Morocco’s geostrategic location and emerging industry-focused policy into branding and marketing Morocco as an invaluable host for investments in aeronautics.
Booming industry, African turn, and Global aspirations
Earlier this month, Morocco and Canada agreed to cooperate on aeronautics. With Morocco’s profitable market and Canada’s well-proven knowhow in the aviation industry, the Morocco-Canada aeronautical cooperation is expected to increase Morocco’s output in the sector and help establish it among global trailblazers.
Morocco bridges Africa and Europe, making it, from the perspective of aircraft manufacturers and investors, “a gateway to the promising African market” for both military and business aviation.
The overarching goal is to capitalize on Morocco’s fast-growing industry to strengthen the country’s position as a continental leader while ensuring its gradual emergence as a global go-to destination for aeronautics.
