• 

  Royal Air Maroc

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  AT/RAM

  Airline Type:

  Full Service Carrier

  Year Founded:

  1953

  Alliance:

  oneworld

  CEO:

  Abdelhamid Addou

  Hub(s):

  Casablanca Airport

  Country:

  Morocco

As a guest of Royal Air Maroc, Simple Flying flew from Frankfurt to Lagos and back via the airline’s main Casablanca hub. The first leg of this journey took place onboard an Embraer E190. The aircraft has two cabins, with Simple Flying traveling in the business class cabin.

Check-in

Passengers taking public transport to Frankfurt Airport will most often find themselves at Terminal 1, home of German flag carrier Lufthansa and predominately used by Star Alliance airlines. Royal Air Maroc, along with most oneworld airlines, uses Terminal 2. Having arrived at the airport, it was necessary to take the short train that connects terminals.

Arriving in Terminal 2, I saw that Royal Air Maroc was using check-in desks in Zone D. I had not been able to check-in for my flight online, but this wasn’t a genuine inconvenience as I had luggage to check into the hold anyway.

Only around five passengers were waiting to check-in, all in the economy line. The business class line was empty, so I didn’t have to wait to be processed. At check-in, I was required to show a multitude of paperwork from my Nigerian visa on arrival approval to vaccine and PCR certificates.

Once the check-in agent confirmed that my incredibly short stay in Nigeria wasn’t a booking error, she produced four boarding passes, two for the outbound journey and two for the return. Excitingly, checking in around 48 hours before the final flight meant I was allocated the elusive sequence number 1.

After a short chat with the check-in agent, she informed me that as a Royal Air Maroc business class customer, I was eligible to use the Japan Airlines Lounge, which I did.

Navigating the airport

Terminal 2 at Frankfurt is split between two levels. Non-Schengen departures and arrivals mix above Schengen departures and arrivals. We used the upper level since Morocco isn’t in the Schengen zone.

Unlike many airport terminals, including Terminal 1, emigration is the first hurdle to be cleared by non-Schengen departures. Passengers then find themselves in the departure lounge, essentially one long corridor. Shops and lounges are located before the security check.

You enter the departure lounge in the middle of the corridor, with E-gates on the left and D-gates on the right. The Japan Airlines Lounge is located in the area of the D-gates. I proceeded here, around a 5-10 minute walk depending on speed. Keep an eye peeled for a separate post about the JAL lounge.

To the gate

Flight AT 811 was scheduled to depart from Frankfurt at 17:30. At roughly 16:30, the lounge staff announced that the flight was now boarding. 15 minutes later, they called final boarding for the flight. When final boarding was called, I left the lounge, only to discover that the walk to gate E2 was even further than the walk to the lounge.

You undergo a security search when you reach the gate. Something that I was prepared for. While the two open security lanes were offered to all passengers, there was a separate queue for business class passengers, which was empty. Not realizing this, a passenger in the standard line bemoaned me for walking to the front, though was understanding and apologetic once I pointed out the circumstances.

Boarding

Gate E2 was in use for the flight to Morocco. This gate allows passengers to be pre-boarded, which is handy for the Emirates Airbus A380 and its many passengers. This means that boarding passes can be checked when passengers arrive at the gate, which doesn’t have to happen right before stepping on the plane.

After the gate agent scanned my boarding pass and my passport checked, he directed me to sit near the actual gate as business class would be the first to board. While the lounge attendant had said that final boarding had been called, boarding was actually yet to begin.

Within five to ten minutes, passengers were invited to start boarding. Sitting so close to the gate, I was the first person on the jet bridge. Upon arrival at the aircraft, I was greeted by name, though the crew revealed they were not ready to board passengers, questioning why we had already been sent down.

Onboard the E190

Royal Air Maroc sent an Embraer E190 to operate AT811 on the day I flew it. This is highly unusual as the last time the airline flew the aircraft on the route was in 2019.

The cabin in the E190 was noticeably a little older than the product installed in the Boeing 737-800 fleet. The E190 has 12 business class seats arranged in four rows of 1-2. I had opted for seat 2A to sit by myself.

This seat was immediately comfortable and offered ample legroom even though I had opted to put my bag under the seat in front of me. According to seatmaps.com, the seats in this cabin have a 36-inch pitch, a 21-inch width, and a 3.5-inch recline. After takeoff, the purser invited me to move to seats 4D&F, a pair of seats unoccupied on the right side of the airplane. This turned out to be a good plan, as while the single-seat was plenty spacious, the pair of seats offered even more space to stretch out. For example, I could put my bag under the seat in front of the one I wasn’t occupying.

In-flight service

The in-flight service onboard the flight from Frankfurt to Morocco was incredibly attentive. Before departure, the crew came around offering a selection of cold juices and water, which was then cleared away swiftly. The crew then performed a manual safety demonstration.

After takeoff, The crew repeated the drinks service. However, rather than bringing a selection of pre-prepared drinks, these drinks are made to order. I ordered a vodka and orange, which was mixed in the galley and brought to me in a glass along with a packet of salted almonds.

Shortly after takeoff, the cabin began to fill with the pleasant aroma of cooking food. Before too long, each passenger in the main cabin was brought a hot towel and a tray with a basic dinner set up, including a plate of raw fish, a desert, and some butter.

The crew brought around a selection of warm bread separately. To my relief, the raw fish turned out to be an appetizer. This was great news for somebody who isn’t a fan of fish, even when cooked.

Once the appetizer was cleared away, a dinner service trolley was brought through the cabin, with a choice of lamb or chicken offered. I opened for the chicken. This came with a cream sauce, vegetables, and an unidentified carbohydrate closely resembling rice.

The chicken itself was interesting. It was essentially cooked chicken wrapped around a mystery pink meat that easily fell apart when probed by a fork. While it didn’t necessarily look stunning, the meal was plenty tasty, though I opted to forgo the pink mystery meat.

Just when you thought the dinner service was finished, another trolley was wheeled through the cabin with a selection of fruit accompanied by a cheese platter. This was followed by the choice of coffee or Moroccan mint tea. I opted for the tea, which smelled amazing.

I didn’t need to actively ask for anything as the crew were incredibly attentive, checking on me frequently.

Arriving in Morocco

While our E190 had a jet bridge in Frankfurt, Royal Air Maroc prefers to send smaller jets to bus gates at its main hub. This is typically my pet peeve at Frankfurt, though the airline has a much better system for disembarkation.

Due to COVID-19, Royal Air Maroc invites passengers to disembark in blocks of roughly five rows at a time. To ensure compliance, a staff member stands in the aisle to stop others further back from getting impatient. Business-class were the first to leave the aircraft, and there was a separate minibus waiting just for these passengers.

Read more flight reviews here!

As I was flying down to Lagos, I connected to another Royal Air Maroc flight in Casablanca with a roughly two and a half-hour connection time. As I thanked the purser for the care and attention paid to me during the flight, she handed me over to a ground employee of the airline.

As a guest of the airline, I was placed straight into a separate minibus by myself, which didn’t hang around heading to the terminal. I then had to walk through the airport the same way as any other passenger, though my guide escorted me to the front of each queue before depositing me in the Royal Air Maroc lounge…

(Flight review to be continued…)

The flight details

As mentioned, flight AT811 was operated by an Embraer E190 on March 24th, which seems to be a one-time occurrence. The aircraft that served our flight was a 7.32-year-old Embraer E190 registered as CN-RGQ. The aircraft is listed with a value of $13.2 million by ch-aviation.com.

The flight was due to depart from Frankfurt at 17:30 and arrive in Casablanca at 21:05, three hours and 35 minutes later. The flight had a delayed start from Runway 18 at Frankfurt Airport, taking off at 18:04, and it arrived with a similar delay at 21:21, according to data from FlightRadar24.com.

Have you flown with Royal Air Maroc? How did you find the experience? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!

Simple Flying traveled on this flight as a guest of the airline.