Summary
- Ryanair plans to enter Morocco’s domestic market.
- The choice to enter Morocco would profit Ryanair in time for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, allowing the airline to realize a footprint within the country and improve connectivity to crucial European tourism markets.
- Ryanair already operates quite a few flights to Morocco, with Marrakech being the major destination, and offers a big variety of weekly seats to the country using its Boeing 737-based fleet.
The European ultra-low-cost carrier Ryanair might be trying to expand its footprint into Northern Africa. This company is planning to enter Morocco’s domestic market next 12 months, as reported by Bloomberg Al-Sharq earlier this week.
Entering the Moroccan market
Ryanair is trying to operate domestic flights in Morocco as soon as next 12 months. The corporate has submitted an official request to the Moroccan government, with a call expected to be made in the approaching months. If approved, it might be the introduction of the ultra-low-cost model within the North African country, which is currently served domestically by Royal Air Maroc and Air Arabia Maroc. The latter is a low-cost subsidiary of the Emirati-based Air Arabia.
Photo: heisenferg | Shutterstock.
The choice to enter the Moroccan market would serve Ryanair to realize a footprint on this country in time for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which goes to be played in Portugal, Spain, and Morocco (with a select handful of games also played in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay).
In line with Al-Sharq, through an interview with Zoubir Bouhout, an authority within the tourism sector, Ryanair’s entry into this market would contribute to the success of the tourism sector’s roadmap, which relies on enhancing air transport to encourage domestic tourism and increase revenues within the industry.
Morocco is trying to increase the variety of inbound tourists from 11 million in 2022 to 17.5 million by 2026 by expanding air transport capability and other measures.
Ryanair, one in all the most important ultra-low-cost carriers on the earth, relies in Dublin; it has subsidiaries in Poland (Buzz), Malta (Lauda Europe and Malta Air), and London (Ryanair UK). It also has bases across Europe.
Improving connectivity in time for the World Cup
As stated before, Ryanair is trying to open a domestic branch in Morocco to cater to this growing market. In 2030, Morocco is ready to host the FIFA World Cup, an event that vastly improves the connectivity of the hosts since they expect a heavy influx of inbound travelers.
Photo: kamilpetran | Shutterstock.
Ryanair’s latest program is ready to raise Morocco’s connectivity to crucial European tourism markets, akin to the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Eastern Europe, and the UK. Currently, Morocco’s direct connectivity mostly goes to France (attributable to its historical ties, with Paris Orly being the major international destination from the North African country) and Spain attributable to its geographical closeness.
Ryanair’s connectivity to Morocco
The ultra-low-cost carrier will not be a stranger to the Moroccan market. In line with data from Cirium, Ryanair offers 379 weekly flights from different cities to Morocco. Ryanair offers nearly 73,000 weekly seats to Morocco, employing its Boeing 737-based fleet.
The airline’s major routes include flights from Madrid (12 weekly), Marseille (11), Brussels (ten), Milan (ten), and Bordeaux (nine) to Marrakech.
Overall, Ryanair flies to 10 Moroccan cities. Marrakech (RAK) is the major destination, with 158 weekly flights in November, followed by Fez (FEZ, with 50) and Agadir (AGA, with 47). Town with the bottom amount of flights is Ouarzazate (OZZ), with only 4.
Ryanair has a fleet of 556 aircraft, including 130 Boeing 737 8-200, the low-cost configuration of the MAX model.
Would you wish to see Ryanair entering the Moroccan domestic market? Tell us within the comments below.