Morocco Suspends International Flights for 15 Days, Royal Air Maroc Faces Financial Strain

Due to the rapid spread of the new variant of the Covid-19 virus - Omicron (B.1.1.529), particularly in Europe and Africa, the Moroccan authorities have suspended flights to Morocco from Monday, November 29, 2021 at 11:59 p.m., and this, for 15 days, "in order to preserve" its "achievements" "in terms of managing the pandemic. This decision, although justified, could result in a shortfall for Royal Air Maroc (RAM).

"In fact, the order of magnitude retained for a one-day strike by pilots who usually serve international destinations is more or less 50 million dirhams (MDH) per day, or a minimum of 750 MDH for the fifteen days of suspension of flights between Morocco and foreign countries," explains an anonymous source to Médias24.

"Knowing that this daily figure is only an approximate estimate that depends on several factors (high season, rotations, large or medium-haul...), and that in reality it is between 40 and 75 MDH per day, the actual losses will rather oscillate between 600 MDH and a little more than 1 billion dirhams," specifies the same source.

If the Moroccan authorities decide to extend the suspension for another 15 days, the shortfall will be in the order of at least 2 billion dirhams for the 30 days of suspension, the end-of-year holidays being a period during which companies make large turnover.