Morocco Clarifies Ryanair Deal: No Subsidies for Domestic Flights, Aims for Regional Connectivity

"No subsidy or financial contribution has been granted to Ryanair to operate domestic flights in Morocco. This has been established from the outset and will remain unchanged," the Ministry of Tourism clarified, also stressing that the partnership with Ryanair, rather than creating "direct competition" for Royal Air Maroc (RAM), aims at "complementarity" and contributing to the interconnection between Moroccan regions.

The Tanger-Essaouira, Oujda-Marrakech or Fès-Agadir routes operated by the Irish low-cost airline contribute to the promotion of domestic tourism and offer the opportunity for foreign tourists to spend longer stays in these regions to discover their tourism potential. The Ministry of Tourism is pleased with the record of 14.5 million tourists arriving in the kingdom in 2023, stressing the imperative need for Morocco to maximize its air capacity in the perspective of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup.

Regarding the payment in euros of domestic flights, the ministry said that "Ryanair and its teams are actively working to resolve the issue of transactions deducted from the tourism allocation." In a statement released on Friday, the Ministry of Transport and Logistics said it had authorized Ryanair to operate domestic flights in Morocco "exceptionally for a period of one month."

The Irish low-cost airline was to operate, as part of the IATA ETE 2024 season (March to April inclusive), 11 domestic routes between 9 Moroccan airports, the Ministry of Transport recalls, adding that Ryanair had been required to sell tickets in dirhams during the period. But having found that the company was selling tickets in foreign currencies, the ministry "reminded it of its commitments on March 29, 2024 and ordered it to comply with them as soon as possible," the ministry said in its note, indicating that Ryanair had been authorized to operate its domestic flights "exceptionally for a period of one month (from Sunday, March 31)" in order not to penalize those who had already purchased their tickets.