Marrakech Airport to Expand Ahead of 2030 World Cup Amid Surging Tourism

The traffic at Marrakech-Menara Airport is growing rapidly since the beginning of the year. Between January 1 and March 31, 2024, this growth reached 22% compared to the same period in 2023, which itself ended with a 41% increase compared to 2022. On Sunday, Marrakech airport recorded a strong influx of tourists. "This exceptional growth is putting a severe strain on the terminal facilities of this airport, which is experiencing heavy traffic," says an authorized source contacted by Challenge.ma. The reason for this saturation is the massive arrival of several flights, the success of the Marrakech destination, but also the very high load factors of the planes. According to the same source, "the most optimistic forecasts were talking about a return to the pre-pandemic level of air traffic in Morocco in 2024, but as early as 2022, air traffic was starting to regain its cruising speed," but the airport is not able to absorb the growing flow of visitors to the ochre city, which should reach more than 14 million passengers by 2030.

To reverse the trend, the National Airports Office (ONDA) intends to launch digitization projects for airport services and processes, as well as the implementation of a "quick