EU-Morocco Dispute Brews Over Sahara Airspace Control

While Morocco has made significant progress in its negotiations with the former colonial power of the region, Spain, to resume the management of the airspace of the Sahara, the European Commissioner for Transport and Tourism, Apostolos Tzitzikostas, declared that "the Euro-Mediterranean air agreement between the European Union and Morocco does not apply to air flights from the territory of a Member State of the European Union to the Sahara". These statements follow a written question on the application of the Euro-Mediterranean air agreement between the European Union (EU) and Morocco in the territories of the Sahara, which a left-wing European deputy addressed to him, after the announcement of the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair to launch routes from EU countries to the city of Dakhla, including a direct flight between Madrid and this Moroccan city, reports El Independiente.

European airlines had been informed that the Euro-Mediterranean air agreement between the EU and Morocco does not apply to air flights from the territory of a Member State of the European Union to the Sahara on December 3, 2024 during a meeting of the consultative forum on the EU’s external aviation policy. According to the Commissioner, this is based on the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. To support his argument, Tzitzikostas explicitly cited a passage from a ruling of the European Court of Justice which, in 2021, had declared "null and void" the fisheries and agriculture agreements signed between the EU and Morocco, which had been approved in October last year.

During a meeting held on November 13 in the presence of Fatim-Zahra Ammor, Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social and Solidarity Economy, as well as Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair, the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) and Ryanair had signed an agreement under which the Irish low-cost airline would connect Dakhla airport to two Spanish destinations, Madrid and Lanzarote. This agreement covers the next four tourist seasons and provides for the programming of four new international routes to Dakhla in the long term. The company should launch this month of January two new routes connecting