Rabat – The low-cost Emirati airline Air Arabia announced today its intent to resume domestic flight activity in Morocco starting June 25.
Air Arabia pledges a gradual resumption by launching only 14 air connections to and from seven major cities, including Agadir, Dakhla, Fez, Marrakech, Nador, Rabat, and Tangier.
The leading budget airline in Morocco shared its program for the 14 connections, with the days of operation, in a press release on Tuesday:
Fez-Marrakech: Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday
Agadir-Tangier: Friday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
Agadir-Fez: Friday and Sunday
Marrakech-Dakhla: Friday, Sunday, and Wednesday
Nador-Tangier: Thursday and Saturday
Agadir-Rabat: Friday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
Tangier-Marrakech: Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Wednesday
In compliance with the sanitary measures implemented by Moroccan health authorities, the company informed its customers that “they are required to obtain a professional authorization (mission order) or an authorization issued by the local authorities in the event of movement between the two zones.”
Air Arabia Morocco recalled that the ease of the lockdown in Morocco does not exempt passengers from respecting the preventive measures, such as wearing protective face masks and respecting social distancing.
The airline has been operating in Morocco since April 2009, with its headquarters in Casablanca.
Air Arabia Morocco’s announcement follows the decision of the Ministry of Tourism to allow the resumption of domestic flights, starting June 25.
Before this announcement, the Moroccan National Office of Airports (ONDA) revealed its resumption plan and the preventive measures it aims to undertake to ensure safety. These include the installation of physical partitions and plexiglass plates where there is human interaction, such as at check-in counters, information counters, and departure lounges, for departures and arrival.
Certain categories of personnel who interact with passengers must comply with special measures such as wearing gloves.
ONDA also plans to facilitate passenger boarding by foot, rather than using buses, to keep passengers at a safe distance.
This recovery is expected to provide an incremental boost to the air traffic sector, which has been severely hit by the COVID-19 crisis.
Morocco’s flag carrier, Royal Air Maroc (RAM), revealed in a recent statement that the lockdown cost the company MAD 50 million ($5 million) daily.
