Rabat – Royal Air Maroc is seeking to increase its fleet of commercial aircraft, aiming to boost the number of its aircraft from 50 to 200 over the next 15 years, as part of a 2023-2037 program contract signed between the company and the Moroccan government.
In a press release, Royal Air Maroc announced the signing of the contract on Tuesday, between Head of Government Aziz Akhannouch and RAM CEO Hamid Addou.
The ambitious growth program reflects the government’s pledges to support the country’s tourism roadmap 2023-2026, which aims to position Morocco among the world’s major tourist destinations. The government intends to prepare to welcome 17.5 million tourists, to produce MAD 120 billion in foreign exchange currencies from tourism, as well as create 80,000 direct and 120,000 indirect job opportunities.
The program additionally seeks to strengthen the role of the tourism sector in attracting investment and business creation.
The contract underlined the government’s participation in boosting the airline’s capital for the implementation of its ambitious development plan, which intends to make Royal Air Maroc more competitive and use digitalization to improve the quality of its services.
The signing of the contract is part of recent efforts by the government as part of King Mohammed VI’s instructions to strengthen the role of air transport in order to achieve economic and social development, the company said, recalling Morocco’s ambition to attract 65 million tourists by 2037.
In addition to its commitment to significantly boosting its fleet, Royal Air Maroc also seeks to use the program contract to strengthen the development of air links to match the tourism sector’s strategic roadmap, by opening up new international destinations.
The airline also seeks to strengthen ties between the Moroccan community residing abroad and their home country.
The company‘s commitment comes amid criticism from many diaspora members, including MREs living in the US and Canada.
Throughout the past months, many diaspora members took to social networks to complain about the skyrocketing prices of airline tickets since May.
Round trip tickets between US and Morocco soared to reach over $2000, making a visit to their home country a far-reaching goal for many diaspora members.
According to the new program, Royal Air Maroc also aspires to boost its domestic flights by setting up 46 new services.
The contract will work to develop the Casablanca air hub to ensure its services as a connecting platform linking major international hubs, with the ambition of making Mohammed V airport of Casablanca one of the top 3 hubs in Africa in terms of traffic and connectivity.
Commenting on the program, Akhannouch said that this program will “greatly contribute to injecting new momentum into the air transport sector, as a strategic pillar establishing Morocco’s position as a global logistics platform.”
