Rabat – Morocco’s southern cities of Tarfaya, Dakhla, and Laayoune have been chosen as Moroccan stage cities of the Toulouse-Saint-Louis of Senegal Air Rally, whose 38th edition opened on September 17 and is scheduled to run until September 30, the organizers have said.
The planes took off on Saturday from the Toulouse Lasbordes airfield, the world’s longest air rally with nearly 10,000 km to cover, making stops in the historic cities of this legendary line, especially those located in Morocco’s southern provinces.
Participants will also stop during their round trip in Tetouan, Casablanca, Tit Mellil, Fez, Essaouira, Agadir, and Tan Tan.
According to the organizers, the 2022 edition of the rally will see participants from seven countries, namely France, the United States, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and Peru.
Nadya Talmi, the Consul General of Morocco in Toulouse, held a meeting with the 28 participating teams on the sidelines of the presentation conference and the launch party at the Envol des Pionniers site, noted the organizers’ statement.
Also present at the meeting were officials from the Toulouse City Council, Toulouse Metropole, the Toulouse Academy, and representatives of the associative world, notably the Antoine de Saint Exupery Foundation, a partner in the organization of this rally.
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This year’s air rally event is organized by the Air Aventures Association, with the support of the Occitanie – Midi-Pyrenees Region in southern France, and the municipalities of Toulouse, Balma, and Blagnac.
Created in 1983, this rally pays tribute to the pioneers of the General Aeropostale Company, who hailed from Toulouse-Montaudran to deliver mail in the southern hemisphere, following the line traced by the French aviator Pierre-Georges Latecoere in 1918.
This line was used by aviators who marked the history of aviation, such as the writer-pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Mermoz, and Daurat.
