Morocco to expand national carrier RAM in tourism sector boost

Morocco's national airline Royal Air Maroc (RAM) intends to quadruple its air fleet by the end of the next decade, in order to support the development of the tourism sector, under the terms of a program contract signed on Tuesday with the government.

"RAM will quadruple its fleet from the current 50 aircraft to 200 over the next 15 years," according to a press release from the office of the head of government, Aziz Akhannouch.

Mr. Akhannouch and the CEO of Royal Air Maroc (RAM), Hamid Addou, signed an investment program contract in Rabat on Tuesday to meet the tourism development plan, which aims to attract 65 million visitors by 2037. This represents around six times as many visitors as today.

To this end, the State's stake in RAM will be increased "as part of the government's support for the company's investment project (...), the implementation of its development plan, support for its competitiveness and the digitization and improvement of the quality of its services", says the press release.

When contacted, the Head of Government's office would not say how much.

The amount of the investment plan was not disclosed either.

RAM - one of Africa's leading airlines - plans to acquire new aircraft in 2024 as part of the implementation of its development strategy, its CEO announced at a press conference in Casablanca, quoted by the MAP news agency.

Bailed out by the government in the wake of the pandemic, the national carrier is also planning to open new international destinations and set up 46 other domestic services to promote domestic tourism.

Internationally, RAM is targeting the African, American and Asian markets.

Finally, the Casablanca air hub, the kingdom's megalopolis and economic capital, is set to strengthen its role as a hub for international connections.

Hard hit by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, tourism is one of the pillars of the Moroccan economy, providing tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

It recovered in 2022, with around 11 million tourists, representing a recovery rate of 84% of 2019 arrivals, according to official statistics.

The Cherifian kingdom aims to welcome 17.5 million tourists by 2026, with expected revenues of 120 billion dirhams (around 11 billion euros), according to the Ministry of Tourism.