Royal Air Maroc’s Low-Cost Ticket Offer Crashes Website, Sparks Controversy

The Royal Air Maroc (RAM) servers crashed on Sunday, a few hours after the company, at the request of King Mohammed VI, announced its offer of "very affordable" tickets. The Moroccan company is offering, for the period from June 15 to September 30, 2021, round-trip tickets of 97 euros for a family of at least 4 people, to facilitate the return of MREs to Morocco this summer. "We recorded 120,000 flight bookings for last night (Sunday). We are very satisfied with the initial feedback," said Abdelhamid Addou, CEO of RAM, on Medi1TV.

To read: Chaos at Royal Air Maroc Office as Morocco Reopens Flights, Slashes Ticket Prices

A similar situation in Brussels, where the company’s agency had to close its counters and call on the police due to the massive influx of travelers wishing to obtain these discounted tickets. In France, online travel agencies have reached a peak in sales of these tickets, before encountering some difficulties on the server. "We had a great success in terms of sales, except that the rate was not well opened in GDS (Global Distribution Service), so we find ourselves with hundreds of files to rework by hand, it’s complicated," confides a manager to TourMag.

"It all started with a royal announcement that RAM tried to execute, but we are in technical and technological trades. The bride was too beautiful," explains Fabrice Dariot, the president of Bourse des Vols, who warns about the consequences of this RAM policy on the activities of tourism professionals. "Given the attractiveness of the offer, many requests could not be met, because the tickets were no longer available at these preferential rates and the Moroccan airline did not close the sales," he adds.

In 72 hours, "the flights from France, Italy, Belgium and Holland are saturated for July. There is wide availability for arrivals in August and September," reassures RAM, which says its teams "are mobilized to add additional flights on saturated European routes in the coming days."

To read: Royal Air Maroc Slashes Fares for Moroccan Expats Following King’s Request

The situation does not delight RAM’s competitors who have recorded massive cancellations of tickets. They denounce unfair competition. "It’s a very good PR stunt, but it’s an anti-competitive offer," says an Air France pilot close to management. According to them, the rates offered by the Moroccan company do not match the reality on the ground.

"This promotion represents only a portion of the available seat capacity this summer, so competitors will not be so penalized," reassures Raphaël Torro, president of Resaneo, who recalls that the pricing offer only concerns MREs. "The issue is therefore not tourism, it is economic," he continues, stressing that "Morocco needs to bring back the MREs, because these are people who bring foreign currency into the country." According to the latest report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), remittances from MREs to Morocco are estimated at 5.28