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Morocco and Israel will establish regular direct flights within two to three months, said Nadia Fettah Alaoui, the Moroccan Minister of Tourism.
Fettah Alaoui made the announcement on Wednesday, December 23, during a conference in Rabat about the future of Morocco’s tourism sector.
Preparations and negotiations are ongoing between Moroccan and Israeli airlines and officials to establish a regular air route, the minister said.
Both parties have shown “great enthusiasm” to re-establish direct air links, she added.
Fettah Alaoui announced the time frame for regular Morocco-Israel flights to begin only one day after a commercial flight from Tel Aviv landed in Rabat.
The flight — the first of its kind since Morocco and Israel agreed to resume diplomatic relations — carried a high-level US-Israeli delegation. Senior US Advisor Jared Kushner and Israeli National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat co-led the delegation.
During their visit to Rabat, the delegation met with King Mohammed VI and signed several bilateral agreements with Morocco, in addition to a joint declaration that officially re-established the Moroccan relationship with Israel.
One of the Morocco-Israel agreements concerns civil aviation and aims to establish regular direct flights between the two countries.
For Fettah Alaoui, the future air route between Morocco and Israel will significantly increase the number of Israeli tourists that visit Morocco.
“These tourists will continue to visit Morocco and encourage others to do the same,” the minister said.
In a previous statement to the Israeli press, Fettah Alaoui announced that Morocco expects the number of visitors from Israel to grow from 45,000 per year to 200,000.
