Moroccan Airline Royal Air Maroc Faced Financial Turbulence Before Pandemic Hit

The year 2020 further aggravated the difficulties that RAM was already facing. The Moroccan national airline expects a net deficit result of -3.73 billion dirhams. The unfavorable evolution of exchange rates, the tension with airline pilots, the grounding of the B737-8 Max, as well as the baggage handlers’ strike, are among the reasons that explain the deficit, explains the DEPP. According to the report, the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly weakened RAM’s activity.

The same report emphasizes that the situation RAM is going through will have repercussions on its shareholder, the Hassan II Fund. "The Fund has been called upon, as a shareholder, as part of RAM’s crisis exit plan to provide its financial support and assistance in the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic. In this context, the Fund has granted a financial contribution of 1.5 billion dirhams in current account advances that will be fully capitalized during the capital increase of the said company." The DEPP report emphasizes the need for RAM to undergo a restructuring, indicates le360.

Moreover, on Monday, September 28, before the Finance Committee of the House of Representatives, Finance Minister Mohamed Benchaâboun affirmed that the government has decided to allocate an envelope of 1.17 billion dirhams to RAM for the 2021 finance bill project, compared to 700 million dirhams in 2020. He had already explained in August that the financial support reserved by the government for RAM’s rescue plan is 6 billion dirhams. 3.6 billion dirhams will be granted in the form of public capital injections. The 2.4 billion dirhams will take the form of state-guaranteed loans, the same source specifies.