Royal Air Maroc Faces Turbulent 2021 as Moroccan Air Traffic Plummets 81%

The latest statistics from the National Airports Office (ONDA) show an 81.24% drop in air traffic in November 2020. The forecasts for 2021 are far from rosy. "The forecasts for this new year are changing regularly because there is the vaccination campaign, a potential resurgence of contamination cases. At the beginning, we were counting on a recovery starting in 2023, while now all eyes are on 2026. This does not mean that the crisis will last until 2026, but rather that traffic will return to its pre-crisis level (i.e. the 2019 level) starting in 2026," explains a source within the National Airports Office (ONDA) to Challenge.ma.

"However, even for 2021, there is still hope, but the uncertainty is growing even if we are still at the beginning of the year, and we are also waiting for the start of the vaccination campaign to see more clearly," comments this source. Without the massive aid from the State, Jalal Imani, an air transport expert and former executive of Royal Air Maroc (RAM), assures that there would be many airline bankruptcies, including RAM and also the major European air carriers, due to the very significant impacts of the health crisis on air traffic.

He recalls that airlines have had to drastically reduce certain staff, particularly in the pilot and commercial flight crew positions. "These layoffs will likely continue in 2021, because the market has shrunk a lot in recent months due to Covid-19," he adds. The expert points out that business flights, which constitute very important and lucrative traffic for airlines, have become rare and are likely to become even scarcer in 2021 because companies have taken a liking to videoconferences facilitated by applications such as Zoom, Teams, etc.

"The new strain of the virus discovered in England is also a determining factor. All of Europe is trying to barricade itself to prevent the spread. And if this new strain (70% more contagious) spreads, it is clear that 2021 will look a lot like 2020 for airlines, including in Morocco. So, I think there is still a heavy cloud of doubt today regarding any forecast on air traffic in 2021," concludes Mr. Imani.