Ryanair has more flights between Europe and North Africa than anyone else. Despite the region comprising Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, Ryanair only serves Morocco because of its open sky policy with the EU.
Open skies paved the way for everything else. This includes Morocco’s huge ambition to grow and its willingness to reduce airport charges and to incentivize new routes and growth. Of course, it could not be done without its closeness to Europe and the significant Moroccan diaspora across the continent. Speaking at CONNECT Route Development Forum in Tangier, Ryanair’s Ray Kelliher, Director of Route Development, couldn’t have been more excited by Morocco’s prospects.
Ryanair in Morocco
Ryanair first served Morocco in late 2006, when the EU signed an open skies agreement with the country, opening access. The ULCC had six routes that year: to Fez and Marrakech from Hahn, Luton, and Marseille, and to Oujda from Marseille. Kelliher says Ryanair has flown more than 30 million people to/from Morocco since 2012.
Click here for Marseille-Fez flights.
Some 17 years since first arriving in Morocco, Kelliher expects Ryanair to carry seven million Morocco passengers in 2023. It’ll be around four million this summer, 21% higher than last summer and 57% more than in summer 2019.
As of February 22nd, Ryanair has up to 832 weekly flights planned (both ways combined), up from the previous peak of 759 held last year. Morocco is now Ryanair’s 11th biggest country market by flights, according to OAG data. It is one place behind summer-orientated Greece but marginally ahead of Austria.
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10 airports, 137 routes
Ryanair serves 10 Moroccan airports: Agadir, Essaouira, Fez, Marrakech, Nador, Oudja, Ouarzazate, Rabat (the capital), Tangier, and Tetouan. It doesn’t serve Casablanca, the biggest city, perhaps because of costs. Of the 10, Marrakech, Fez, and Agadir are bases. It has 11 Boeing 737s stationed in Morocco this year, up from eight in the pre-pandemic 2019.
With over a third of summer flights (34%), Marrakech – the country’s most famous tourist destination – is its most-served airport. It is far bigger than at number two, Fez (19%), and number three, Tangier (11%). It is very much Marrakech’s biggest airline this summer and has 39 routes.
Ryanair has 137 Morocco routes planned this summer, with London Stansted to Marrakech the most served, followed by Madrid-Tangier, Madrid-Marrakech, Marseille-Marrakech, and Malaga-Marrakech. The 137 include routes announced in the past few days: Madrid-Essaouira, Barcelona-Ouarzazate, and Stansted-Ouarzazate.
Click here for London-Marrakech flights.
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What Kelliher says
"We’ve grown because of our partnership with the Moroccan authorities over the past few years… We do more than 20% growth in Morocco every year without fail. That’s because the Moroccan tourism agency has a strategy, one we want to intertwine ourselves without for a broader national development… we want to support them in the big picture."
Kelliher was clear about the need for a country’s ambition and not just long-term incentives.
“We want to stitch ourselves into the fabric of Morocco. We don’t want to be the largest foreign carrier in Morocco. We want people to think of Ryanair as a large Moroccan airline."