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Rabat – Morocco’s National Tourism Office (ONMT) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Israel’s flag carrier airline El Al airlines following the inaugural flight between Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport and Marrakech’s Menara Airport on Sunday.
The MoU aims to improve media coverage of the flight route, ultimately increasing tourism between Morocco and Israel.
On the tarmac in Marrakech, the Director General of the ONMT, Adel El Fakir, stated that the flight “crowns the important decisions Morocco has taken for the resumption of relations between the two countries.”
Vice President Commercial & Industry Affairs of El Al, Dina Ben-Tal, reiterated that the flight marks a “historic day” for relations between the two countries.
Currently, the airline intends to operate three flights per week between Israel and Marrakech aboard El Al’s Boeing 737-900ER.
In addition, the airline will add a tri-weekly flight line to Casablanca’s Mohammed V Airport starting August 10.
The airplane can seat 175 passengers and the ONMT expects upwards of 800,000 Isaeli tourists to visit the kingdom annually. Approximately 50,000 to 80,000 Israeli tourists visited Morocco yearly before the direct flight line.
Other prominent figures attended the signing of the MoU following the inaugural flight’s reception in Marrakech including the owner of Israri, Rami Levy, and the president of the Jewish Community of Marrakech-Safi, Jacky Kadoch.
“We have waited with great enthusiasm and emotion for the launch of commercial flights between our two countries,” stated Levy.
By signing the MoU, the two countries will benefit economically and diplomatically as the ONMT intends to underline Morocco’s cultural and religious diversity to Israeli travelers through a joint-marketing campaign.
