Rabat – The ochre city of Marrakech experienced an unexpected spike in tourist arrivals this past weekend, overwhelming the airport infrastructure of the country’s tourism hub.
Although plans to extend the terminal have been confirmed by Morocco’s National Airports Office (ONDA), they have not yet materialized.
As of 2020, the airport’s capacity had increased to nine million passengers annually thanks to a variety of upgrades and extensions, although the Marrakech-Menara airport requires much more funding to keep up with the city’s tourism growth.
Aziz Rebbah, Justice and Development Party (PJD) Transport Minister, made the decision to build a second airport in Marrakech in response to the city’s expanding demands for airport infrastructure. This airport went under shortly after it was projected to have cost MAD 4.3 billion ($425 million).
Since then, ONDA has put in place an alternative solution capable of absorbing the growing flow of travelers. In August 2023, ONDA launched a call for tenders for architectural studies and monitoring of the works relating to the project to extend the current terminal facilities.
This project, which has a budget of MAD 850 million ($85 million), intends to expand the surface area of the passenger terminal to around 120,000 square meters, but has not started yet.
The airport in Marrakech handled 1.3 million people in the first two months of 2024, according to most recent statistics.
Read also: ONDA Allocates MAD 1.65 Billion for Marrakech, Tangier Airport Expansions
