Royal Air Maroc to Acquire 200 Aircraft Ahead of 2030 World Cup

RAM wants to prepare to manage the high demand during the 2030 World Cup organized by Morocco, Spain and Portugal. The Moroccan airline wants to buy 200 aircraft, including medium-haul, long-haul and short-haul aircraft, to strengthen its competitiveness in the rapidly growing African market, said its CEO Abdelhamid Addou on Monday to Reuters.

"What we have already prepared for 2030 will put us in a very good position to host this World Cup," Addou said on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Marrakech. According to him, these meetings are an opportunity to seek financing from investment funds and banks for the implementation of RAM’s development plan.

This plan is perfectly in line with Morocco’s objectives of attracting 17.5 million tourists by 2026, he stressed, recalling that 11 million tourists visited the kingdom last year, compared to 13 million in 2019. For the moment, the privatization or listing of RAM on the Casablanca stock exchange is not on the agenda. "Let’s start by developing the airline and making it much stronger. The market is there, the potential, the future, the World Cup and the tourism strategy are all there," Addou said.