Royal Air Maroc (RAM) will use two wet-leased Airbus A330-200s this summer, supplementing other leased equipment. One A330 is from Air Belgium and is deployed on scheduled routes to Brussels, Istanbul Airport, and Paris CDG. The second example is from Hi Fly Malta, which carries pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.
The A330-200 to Istanbul
In line with Cirium and cross-referenced with Flightradar24, Morocco’s flag carrier began using Air Belgium’s OE-LAC – a 9.5-year-old ex-Etihad A330 – on June 14th. It operates every day between Casablanca and Istanbul. This leaves Casablanca at 10:00 and returns at 21:10, enabling two-way connectivity across Morocco, West Africa, and more.
The A330 can be used until June twenty third, after which the much rarer A340-300 – perhaps the topic of one other article – can be deployed to Istanbul. Belonging to Hi Fly Malta, the A340 runs until September 4th, replaced by RAM’s own Boeing 787s.
And to Brussels and Paris CDG
When Istanbul stops seeing the A330 on June twenty third, the 262-seat, two-class aircraft will as a substitute be used to Brussels (every day from June twenty fourth to September third) and Paris CDG (every day from June twenty fifth to September third). Note that RAM had previously scheduled a wet-leased 767-300ER to Brussels, but this modified in late May.
The A330’s every day schedule is as follows, with all times local:
- Casablanca-Paris CDG: AT1702, 02:40-06:45
- Paris CDG-Casablanca: AT1703, 08:25-10:35
- Casablanca-Brussels: AT832, 13:00-17:15
- Brussels-Casablanca: AT833, 18:55-21:20
Image: GCMap.
When all equipment is taken into account, RAM has 10 weekly Casablanca-Brussels and triple every day Paris CDG flights this summer. Other than the wet-leased A330, RAM’s own 737-800s are used on the opposite services.
Where Brussels passengers go
Evaluation of RAM’s booking data for pre-pandemic 2019 suggests that almost all passengers were point-to-point: they only traveled between Brussels and Casablanca. Given the Moroccan diaspora, that mustn’t be surprising.
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More interesting is that ~43,000 passengers transited RAM’s Casablanca hub across Morocco and West/Central Africa. In any case, the carrier is ready up to focus on this market. The preferred Brussels origins and destinations were Marrakech, Agadir, Conakry, Dakhla, Dakar, Oudja, Niamey, Abidjan, Banjul, and Nouakchott, as shown below.
Image: GCMap.
What in regards to the other A330?
Other than OE-LAC, RAM also uses Hi Fly Malta’s 25.3-year-old 9H-TQP, an A330-200 that began life with the long-defunct Canada 3000. Cirium and Flightradar24 show that it began flying for RAM on June 2nd, 2023, carrying pilgrims between Rabat, Morocco’s capital, and Medina.
The newest schedule, very much subject to alter, indicates that it’s as a consequence of stop flying for RAM on June twenty first, the day of writing. It has been used from six Moroccan cities to Jeddah and/or Medina.
Have you ever ever flown wither A330-200 mentioned in this text? In that case, tell us by commenting.