Morocco Begins Land Acquisition for Tanger Airport Expansion Ahead of 2030 World Cup

Decree No. 2.24.852, signed by the Head of Government and countersigned by the Minister of Transport and Logistics, and published in the Official Bulletin on January 6, 2025, has sanctioned the expropriation of these lands for public utility. These are "bare agricultural lands, located in the prefecture of Tanger-Asilah, belonging to private owners as well as to habous (waqf) property," the text states. The National Airports Office (ONDA) is the beneficiary of these expropriated lands for the realization of the Tanger-Ibn-Battouta airport extension project.

In a recent intervention in parliament, Abdessamad Kayouh, Minister of Transport and Logistics, announced the government’s ambition to double the reception capacity of the kingdom’s airports from around 40 million passengers currently to 80 million passengers in 2030. A vision whose implementation requires investments of nearly 40 billion dirhams which will be allocated, among other things, to the extension of Mohammed V airport over an area of 700 hectares by 2029.

"The Rabat-Salé airport will in turn increase its capacity to five million passengers; while the Tanger airport will increase from 3 to 7 million passengers, with an estimated investment of around 3 billion dirhams. Similarly, the Marrakech airport will increase from 9 million passengers currently to 16 million, for an estimated investment of 3 billion dirhams, while the Agadir airport will reach a capacity of 9 million passengers against 3.5 million currently," detailed the minister.

And to continue: "The next steps will require a considerable collective effort to position the country among the great nations. A country aspiring to welcome 80 million passengers must have adequate airport infrastructure and ensure the fluidity of operations. In this regard, we aim to reduce the average time required to leave the airport from 45 minutes currently to less than 25 minutes."