On Friday, representatives of Royal Air Maroc and the oneworld alliance came together in Lagos, Nigeria, to celebrate two years since the airline became a member. These celebrations had been planned for when the airline joined the alliance in 2020, though the COVID-19 situation led to their postponement.
In December 2018, the oneworld alliance revealed that it would be adding Royal Air Maroc as its first full African member. Such partnerships don’t happen overnight, and oneworld believed it would take RAM 18 months to get ready to join the alliance. All the preparations were completed in just 15 months, with the airline formally joining the alliance on April 1st, 2022.
Celebrating two years of the alliance
To celebrate the second anniversary of Royal Air Maroc’s oneworld membership, the two came together in Nigeria last week. Rob Gurney, CEO of the oneworld alliance, joined Karim Benchekoun, CFO of Royal Air Maroc, to mark the occasion while also launching a new advertising campaign in four countries. Benchekoun and Gurney flew into Lagos on Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737 wearing the oneworld special livery. The aircraft was greeted with a water cannon salute.
Commenting on the occasion, Gurney remarked,
“As global travel gradually recovers, Royal Air Maroc will be a strong contributor to oneworld. With Morocco’s proximity to Europe, Royal Air Maroc’s hub in Casablanca is well-positioned to serve as the gateway to Africa for oneworld customers.”
After a press conference marking the occasion, both airline executives posed for photos before cutting a cake created for the anniversary. In the evening, the two entities held a Gala dinner to celebrate the launch of the advertising campaign, with a host of local guests invited to the celebration.
Opening Africa to the alliance
The addition of Royal Air Maroc to the oneworld alliance has finally given the alliance a foothold in Africa. As mentioned, the airline is the first African carrier to be a full group member.
There are benefits for airlines and passengers alike from the partnership. When the airline joined, oneworld instantly added 30 destinations in Africa that weren’t already served by a member airline.
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The benefits of an alliance
This means there are more options for passengers to reach their intended destination with their preferred alliance. This is also where the second benefit comes in. All oneworld airlines offer reciprocal frequent flyer benefits. If a British Airways silver or gold card member is on a Royal Air Maroc flight, they can take advantage of their status to access lounges and more.
The benefit for airlines is fairly similar. Take London to Frankfurt, for example. The main options are flying with British Airways or Lufthansa. One would expect that a Qatar Airways frequent flyer using the route would pick British Airways to collect and spend frequent flyer miles and make use of their benefits.
Have you flown with Royal Air Maroc? How was your experience with the airline? Let us know what you think and why in the comments below!
Simple Flying flew to Lagos as a guest of Royal Air Maroc.