Rabat – Morocco’s flag carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) commented on the “historic” reopening of domestic flights today, June 25, after months of passenger flight suspension.
RAM launched its first flight linking Casablanca and Dakhla today. It is the first day Moroccan authorities have allowed domestic flights to resume in order to revive Morocco’s economy and tourism sector, as part of the gradual easing of the country’s COVID-19-induced lockdown.
Director of RAM’s customer service department, Othman Bekkari, said today is historic, adding that the day will “remain stuck in the memory of the Royal Moroccan Airlines.” The relaunch of its activities comes after a passenger flight suspension of more than three months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bekkari told Maghreb Arab press (MAP) that RAM will operate four domestic flights during the first week of resumed activities to service the destinations of Laayoune, Oujda, Agadir, and Dakhla from the Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca.
The company will enhance the program gradually with more frequent flights and additional routes.
Bekkari spoke about RAM’s tasks in line with the national campaign to combat the pandemic through delivering medical aid. Some of the company’s cargo flights have been also active for trade exchanges and returning Morocans stranded abroad.
Like other international airlines, the flag carrier was directly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
In May, RAM CEO Abdelhamid Abdou said the crisis costs the company MAD 50 million, or $5 million, per day due to the suspension of both domestic and international passenger flights.
He said the company will need a minimum period of 36 months to recover from the crisis.
“We are therefore going through the worst crisis in our history, a world crisis of a magnitude never known by our generation, much more violent than 2001 or 2009,” he warned.
The director of Mohammed V International Airport, Abdellah Mazour, said that the airport has been taking a series of necessary measures to ensure the safety and comfort of travelers, taking into account all of the preventive measures recommended by Morocco’s ministries of health and tourism, as well as by the International Civil Aviation Organization.
