Rabat – Many have taken to social media in recent weeks to post, share, or comment on videos documenting the frustration, shock, and anger from Moroccan passengers who recently went through the excruciating experience of losing their luggage at the Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca –– particularly those who travel with Royal Air Maroc.
Some of the videos shared with Morocco World News (MWN) show one of the Moroccan citizens exploding with anger at the airport, stressing that his lost luggage had been missing for four days.
“Bring back my luggage, it has my medicines, I am going to die. Bring it to me now. Shame on you, I have been waiting here for four days. I paid my ticket. Give me back my medicines. I came from the US to my homeland to experience this…. This is unbearable,” the angry passenger can be heard saying in one of the videos that have been making the rounds on social media platforms.
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Another passenger similarly expressed dissatisfaction over being told at the airport that their luggage had been lost. Many of the frustrated passengers have put the blame on Royal Air Maroc, describing the quality of its services as poor or disappointing and even calling into question the authenticity or credibility of the awards the company has repeatedly received for being one of the best “regional airlines” in Africa.
Others have pointed accusatory fingers at Morocco’s National Airports Office (ONDA), the national body in charge of managing airports.
“ONDA-Maroc needs to grow up, Casablanca airport is really bad, no charm, no comfort, and is badly designed,” one commenter tweeted.
Another traveler also took issue with ONDA’s unresponsiveness and dismissive attitude despite the ongoing popular outrage, saying: “Trust me don’t even waste your time to the DM that will ignore you as they ignored (sic) you at the airport.”
Many others described their experience at the Casablanca airport as a “nightmare.”
These concerns come as Morocco has announced plans to strengthen its tourism assets to attract 17.5 million tourists, generate MAD 120 Billion ($12 billion) in receipts, and create 200,000 new jobs by 2026.
Stephanie Bermeo, one of the travelers that experienced a “bad” experience at the Mohammed V Airport talked to MWN about a “disappointing” adventure at the airport.
“If Morocco wants to keep bringing people in for tourism, they cannot treat people like this at the airport,” Bermeo said, explaining that she faced many challenges at the Casablanca airport on June 24, when she tried to have her ticket printed at the ticket counter (including a fee of 660 Moroccan dirhams to print at airport).
“The woman [at the counter] refused to print out tickets,” she said, stressing that she used her phone to film the woman’s surreal refusal to print passengers’ tickets for no good reason.
“When we asked her who she was calling she was ignoring us and then openly admitted she was refusing to print tickets ON PURPOSE, causing us to miss the flight,” she said.
Infrastructure not meeting World Cup ambitions
Such reputation-damaging for Morocco’s famed hospitality industry comes amid Morocco’s ambitions to host prestigious events like the World Cup, which the North African country hopes to host in 2030 through a joint bid with Portugal and Spain.
One of the key elements in convincing FIFA and national football federations across the world of the host country’s potential is a highly advanced infrastructure, including sports venues, airports, and other tourism assets that fans can enjoy on the sidelines of games.
As such, the surfacing and growing social media visibility of videos casting doubt on the quality of services at Morocco’s leading international airport and travelers’ frustration with Morocco’s flag carrier may lead many to question whether the country is really ready to host a mega sporting event like the World Cup.
According to reports, Qatar spent over $300 billion on infrastructure projects, including highway and airport expansions.
Moroccan government pledges continue to stress Rabat’s readiness to invest billions in foreign and local currencies to ensure that Morocco’s infrastructure network is ready to host the global and continental competitions.
Amid the pledges, many – including locals — view that it is necessary for the government to start with the little details before thinking big– including the lost luggage issues at the Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca.
Nobody assumes responsibility
MWN contacted both ONDA and Royal Air Maroc for comments regarding the situation at the Casablanca airport.
A Royal Air Maroc services’ employee said she is “unaware of the videos” MWN received, stressing that the company is taking all necessary measures to ensure good quality services for its travelers.
“We are not having any comments because of this; because actually I don’t know what you are talking about, I did not see the videos,” she told MWN, adding that Royal Air Maroc has been doing “whatever is necessary” to ensure customers’’ satisfaction.
Meanwhile, a staff member at the call center of ONDA, the Moroccan airport authority, responded to MWN’s inquiry by emphasizing that the management of luggage is the responsibility of airlines and not the airport.
The ONDA employee said that the inquiry should be directed to airline services as they are the ones in charge of their customers’ luggage.
One of the Moroccan citizens who faced a luggage issue said that his belongings were lost for five days.
“The only way I got it back was to have someone personally go and find it for me,” he added.
Adina Friedman, another regular Mohammed V Airport customer who spoke to MWN about facing the same issue at the airport, put the blame on the airport staff.
“While standing in line, I noticed the airport worker got into a fight with a man holding a baby, a few people ahead of me. When my turn finally arrived, the worker was on her phone on a personal call,” Friedman said, stressing that the employee kept talking on the phone while the traveler asked for information.
When the customer “nicely” asked the airport employee to focus on the discussion rather than the phone call, the employee ignored her request and remained on the phone while she was talking to her.
“She said I was in the wrong line (though an airport employee had directed me to that line) and had to go stand on a different line somewhere else,” the aggrieved traveler explained. “I commented to her that when she talks to me she should not be on the phone with someone else but rather attend to me, and I asked again where I needed to go. At this point she just answered ‘nowhere’ and walked away.”
The heated discussion, according to Friedman, escalated further as she tried to take a picture of the employee with her phone since she was not wearing a badge.
“At that point she walked after/towards me, hit me and tried to grab my phone (or make me drop it) by force!! I was shocked that an airport employee had the nerve to raise her hand at me and physically strike me – something that would have gotten her charged for assault in the US,” she added.
The employee also asked her to wait, when she went to call a policeman on me, which is ironically “something I should have done,” Friedman added.
The loss of passenger luggage linked to or handled by Royal Air Maroc is not the preserve of the Casablanca airport.
Last year, data from the UK Civil aviation Agency (CAA) indicated that Royal Air Maroc holds a record for the highest number of cases of luggage loss in the UK.
According to the data, 12.5% of all luggage handled by RAM was lost.
These concerns come just days after RAM revealed its latest plan, namely a project to expand its fleet and network.
On Tuesday, Royal Air Maroc signed a program contract with the Moroccan government, under which the national carrier will rely on financial support to move its aircraft from 50 to 200 by 2027.
The signing, however, reportedly took place without the presence of ONDA General Manager Habiba Laklalech. This has led to questions as to whether there is a divergence in opinions between the airport management and the government.
On Wednesday, CEO of Royal Air Maroc Abdelhamid Addou said the company wants to become a global carrier instead of operating regionally.
The ambition is to enable the company to operate in 143 destinations worldwide, with a turnover estimated at MAD 94 billion ($9.77 billion) while serving 31.6 million passengers.
The concerns regarding the airport and RAM luggage issues also come amid recent remarks from Minister of Transport Mohamed Abdeljalil, who celebrated RAM’s “positive” customer satisfaction rate.
Quoting a 2023 customer satisfaction survey earlier this week, the minister suggested that Royal Air Maroc’s slots capacity was around 85% and remains one of the best for service quality and customer satisfaction in Africa and beyond.
“The Moroccan airline brilliantly won in 2022, for the ninth year in a row, the 4 label stars from Skytrax as well as the Prize for the best African regional company by the same institution,” the minister said, recalling that Royal Air Maroc mobilized 6.2 million seats which connects 90 destinations across four continents.
Beyond the luggage controversy
Yet the repeated loss of travelers’ luggage at the Casablanca airport is not the only issue that has enraged Moroccan travelers in recent months.
Last year, a Moroccan woman residing abroad condemned the bad quality of the escort services at the airport, denouncing the humiliation she faced alongside eight elders and disabled people at the airport.
Meriem Abouri was one of the citizens that wrote an open letter to the director of ONDA to voice her concerns and frustration regarding the situation.
“Instead of nine escorts coming, one escort came, without wheelchairs, and (we were put) in the elevator designated to get off the plane, without chairs, as if we were rams,” Abouri explained in the post. Unable to keep their balance, the passengers were at risk of slipping and falling from the elevator.
In addition to airport challenges, many Moroccan citizens – particularly those residing in North America – have also taken issue with the exorbitant prices of RAM flight tickets, saying that the national carrier’s prohibitive ticket prices have led many Moroccans in the US and Canada to reconsider their plans to spend their summer vacation in Morocco.
Some in the Moroccan diaspora in the US have complained about round trip tickets for RAM flights soaring to over $2,000, with many finding themselves helpless to pay that amount of money for a vacation that does not usually exceed one month.
