Morocco Border Closure Disrupts French Airport Traffic, Impacting Regional Hubs

The airports of Occitanie have experienced a lean period in these Covid-19 times. Several factors explain this situation. These include the closure of the Moroccan borders. This measure that the government had taken to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the kingdom caused the suspension of several flights to the Kingdom.

"This summer, we operated with domestic lines and to Belgium and England. But we could not count on the Moroccan lines to Fez and Marrakech," Grégory Merelo, general manager of Nîmes airport, told Midi Libre. This is not an isolated case. Perpignan airport is facing the same situation. "We still have two suspended lines to Dublin and Marrakech. We absolutely do not know when we will be able to put them back into service," the airport services say.

At Montpellier airport, the mood is rather optimistic despite the closure of destinations to Algeria and especially Morocco. "The recovery of activity is obviously difficult. But we are avoiding the worst thanks to companies like Volotea, KLM, and Air France which provide 11 flights to Paris," says Emmanuel Brehmer, director of Montpellier airport. This is especially thanks to the commitments made by Transavia. Even if the 21 lines will be operational in April 2021, a year late, the company has made the effort to open about fifteen of them."