Morocco Denies Flight Cancellations as Low-Cost Airlines Maintain Schedules

Certain "low-cost" international airlines have not made public any press release regarding the cancellation of their flights to Morocco, the minister said during the oral question session at the House of Councillors. Also, he said that these companies are scheduling flights to Moroccan airports, like other airlines operating in Morocco, in anticipation of the resumption of international air traffic to the kingdom.

Recalling that Morocco has adopted a proactive policy of liberalizing air transport since 2003, crowned by the signing in 2006 of the Open Sky agreement with the European Union, the first of its kind concluded by the Union with a Mediterranean country and the second worldwide, he indicated that the implementation of this agreement required efforts from the government. The latter has attracted two major "low-cost" companies in Europe, with a view to investing in the Moroccan market, which has contributed to the development of the national air transport sector, he added.

These efforts have borne fruit. Passenger traffic has quadrupled over the past 20 years, and more than 25 million passengers transited through Moroccan airports in 2019 compared to 6 million in 2003, said Mohamed Abdeljalil, regretting that the health crisis related to Covid-19 has hit the air transport sector hard, with a drop to 7 million passengers in 2020. Thanks to the exceptional "Marhaba 2021" operation, the number of passengers was able to rise to reach a total of 10 million.