Morocco’s leading airline is taking a giant step forward in its firm commitment to serving as a bridge connecting Africa with Spain, Europe and the rest of the world through a comprehensive modernisation programme, promoting the identity of the Alawite and African nations through the value of human and cultural exchange.
Africa is a continent largely unknown to the rest of the world, yet it is the one with the greatest potential for growth and development, both economically and in terms of tourism.
Recognising this reality, Royal Air Maroc has embarked on a new course by signing a programme contract with the Government for the period 2023–2037.
The company currently focuses its traffic on the Casablanca hub, which provides connections to a geographical area limited to parts of Western Europe to the north and West Africa to the south.
In addition to this traffic, there are a number of long-haul routes to the Americas and the Middle East. Royal Air Maroc aims to transform itself from a traditional airline, with a regional north-south medium-haul hub, into a global airline with a higher growth rate, operating a transcontinental north-south and east-west hub. This hub will be strengthened as part of a new end-to-end approach, through a network of airports located in the kingdom’s major cities, which will connect them with the main cities that send tourists and with those that are home to the vast majority of Moroccans living abroad and to African diaspora communities.
Specifically, the company will operate a fleet of 200 aircraft, carrying around 32 million passengers a year. A plan will be launched to open new routes via the company’s hub in Casablanca and through point-to-point flights between now and 2037, with more than a hundred new international destinations worldwide to improve connections across the Kingdom.
Internationally, the company operates routes to destinations in Europe, Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East.
With a view to expanding its fleet to 200 aircraft, Royal Air Maroc has recently launched a tender for the purchase of one hundred and eighty-eight aircraft, which will be gradually added to the fleet up to 2037.
Meanwhile, the airline has expanded its fleet with the delivery of new B-787-9 Dreamliners and B-737 MAX aircraft, and plans to introduce further new aircraft before the end of 2026, offering greater comfort and improved connectivity. Royal Air Maroc’s fleet will thus grow from the current 62 aircraft to 72 by 2026.
Thanks to these acquisitions, the company has expanded its network by launching and resuming new domestic and international routes in Africa, Europe, South America and Asia, including Los Angeles, St Petersburg, São Paulo, Toronto, Bilbao, Alicante, Catania, Naples, Zurich, Munich, Beijing, the island of Sal, Abuja and N’Djamena, amongst others. In addition, several new routes are planned for the medium and long term.
50 years in Spain
With a history spanning several decades in Spain, Royal Air Maroc was one of the first airlines to establish a permanent air link between Morocco and Spain.
Royal Air Maroc’s regional presence, based in Madrid, includes several local offices covering key areas such as Andalusia, Catalonia and the Canary Islands, enabling the airline to maintain an extensive regional network and foster closer ties with market stakeholders.
In addition to its own agencies, Royal Air Maroc has a particularly extensive distribution network in Spain, comprising several thousand sales outlets, which demonstrates the company’s strong presence and commercial dynamism throughout the country.
Thanks to its ongoing commitment to the Spanish market—one of the company’s most strategic markets in Europe—Royal Air Maroc is consolidating its role as the preferred air link between Morocco and Spain.
The latest development has been the launch of a new route between Bilbao and Casablanca, as part of the company’s expansion into the Spanish market, with three flights a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays), offering travellers greater flexibility.
With this new addition, Royal Air Maroc is expanding its network in Spain, where it already operates from nine airports and connects five Moroccan cities with numerous Spanish destinations, offering more than eighty weekly flights. In addition, passengers travelling from Bilbao will be able to access the airline’s extensive international network via the Casablanca hub, which includes destinations in Africa, the Americas and the Middle East.
The launch of this new route will help to boost international traffic at Bilbao Airport and strengthen economic, tourist and cultural ties between the Basque Country and Morocco, against a backdrop of growing demand from leisure and business travellers, as well as the diaspora.
This launch forms part of Royal Air Maroc’s strategic plan for international expansion, which aims to consolidate its position as a global airline and strengthen its Casablanca hub, particularly with a view to the 2030 World Cup to be co-hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal.
In the words of Her Excellency the Moroccan Ambassador to Spain, “the launch of these new air routes reflects the strengthening of bilateral relations between Morocco and Spain, two neighbouring and friendly countries with a shared history, deep historical ties and an increasingly close and diversified cooperation”.
Royal Air Maroc, a member of the oneworld Alliance
Royal Air Maroc, the first African airline to join the oneworld alliance in 2020 alongside prestigious airlines from around the world, offers access to a network of over 900 destinations in 170 countries. Eligible passengers, particularly Business Class customers and members of the Safar Flyer loyalty programme, enjoy a range of exclusive services across the entire oneworld network: over 600 lounges worldwide, priority queues at check-in and boarding, as well as fast-track access at some airports. Furthermore, the Safar Flyer programme, which allows members to earn and redeem miles across all member airlines in the alliance, is fully recognised within the alliance, thereby strengthening customer loyalty and the competitiveness of the offering. In addition to these benefits for customers, membership of oneworld enables Royal Air Maroc to become part of a structured collaborative ecosystem that fosters the exchange of best practices and digital innovation, thereby supporting the airline’s ongoing modernisation.
The company has also signed several codeshare agreements with other world-renowned airlines, with the aim of improving connections between Morocco and numerous countries around the world.
All of this is the result of a carefully crafted growth strategy that is gradually bearing fruit, transforming the company from a traditional carrier with a hub in Casablanca into a transcontinental airline aiming to exceed thirty million passengers.
