Royal Air Maroc Soars: Ambitious Expansion in Brazil’s Lucrative Travel Market

The Moroccan airline is opening up to the Lusophone market, with Brazil as the starting point. The country, ranked 50th on the global innovation index, recorded a gross domestic product of $2,180 billion in 2024, up 3.4% year-on-year, and is expected to grow by 2.4% in 2025. "Sustained domestic demand and stable household consumption reflect the resilience of the Brazilian economy despite the prospect of the 2026 presidential and senatorial elections," can be read in the RAM presentation document.

Brazil records nearly 12.8 million outbound trips each year, reflecting "a growing interest in Europe, North Africa and Asia," according to the report. In this Latin American country, the travel and tourism sector accounts for 8% of GDP, or about $170 billion. While outbound travel expenses are estimated at $16 billion, tourism revenues have reached $7.5 billion.

São Paulo International Airport is one of the largest in Latin America. More than 50 airlines operate from this hub to 60 destinations with 16 million seats. Royal Air Maroc operates 4 weekly flights to Casablanca (4,434 seats), Ethiopian Airlines 8 flights to Addis Ababa (9,765 seats), Angola Airlines 5 flights to Luanda (6,101 seats), 5 flights to Johannesburg (4,482 seats) and 2 to Cape Town (2,241 seats). Royal Air Maroc plans up to 6 weekly frequencies from 2026 and a load factor (LF) of up to 83% in the "cruise" phase.

By 2037, Royal Air Maroc plans to have a fleet of 200 aircraft, covering 143 destinations and offering 38.6 million seats for 31.6 million passengers. The overall load factor is estimated at 82%, for a turnover of 94 billion dirhams and a net margin of 4.7%. Before the Covid-19 health crisis, the Moroccan airline was operating with 60 aircraft, 99 destinations and 13 million seats, transporting 7.5 million passengers with a load factor of 70%, a turnover of 16.5 billion dirhams and a net margin of around 1%.