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Rabat – Morocco “accounts for 50 percent of the private flights sector” in North Africa, said Zouhair Mohamed El Aoufir, CEO of the National Airports Authority (ONDA).
El Aoufir made the remarks at a press conference for the 3rd Middle East and North Africa Business Aviation Association Show (MEBAA) Morocco.
Last September, Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani inaugurated the Moroccan Private Aviation Academy (MAPA) in Benslimane, near Rabat. The school offers training for ground engineers and pilots.
The aviation school was reopened following protests from pilots of the state-owned airline, Royal Air Maroc (RAM). The pilots called for reestablishing the school after RAM closed their training center for pilots in 2014. El Othmani said that MAPA would meet the growing needs of the aviation industry.
Last year, the American embassy in Morocco called aerospace “the largest sector in Morocco’s economy.”
In 2017, Morocco exported more than $1.2 billion worth of aeronautical products, and jobs in the industry increased by 50 percent.
The same year, more than 20 million passengers passed through one of the kingdom’s 17 airports, according to ONDA. The growth was most dramatic at Tangier’s Ibn Battuta Airport where passenger traffic was up by 26 percent compared to 2016.
Last year, the Marrakech Air Show, a military parade show, took place at the RMAF military base in Marrakech. The show convened 200 exhibitors and 100 foreign delegations. The air show gives aviation business leaders in the region a marketing platform and promotes the growing aviation business in Africa.
MEBAA Show is one of the largest business aviation shows in the Middle East and North Africa. The biennial business aviation show is scheduled for September 25 and 26 in Marrakech. Last year, the three-day show took place in Dubai.
MEBAA is a non-profit Emirati organization that acts as a “platform for members of the business aviation industry in the MENA region to gather, understand and communicate the needs and benefits of the industry,” according to MEBAA.
