While the spiritual capital is experiencing record influx during this summer period, the various services of Fez-Saïss airport are hard at work to provide suitable conditions for welcoming members of the Moroccan community residing abroad. (MRE), as part of Operation Marhaba 2024.
Supported by the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, the various airport partners have strengthened their coordination to increase the pace and ensure better fluidity of security measures and customs and health controls, as well as to better guide and inform these Moroccans residing there. ‘Stranger.
“At Fez-Saïss airport, all human and material resources have been mobilized to facilitate the passage of travelers through the airport in coordination with all stakeholders,” said in a statement to MAP , the director of the airport, Mostapha El Khoudri, reporting the strengthening of the work teams in the various checkpoints, but also the teams reporting to the airport and which ensure the guidance of travelers.
Indeed, he said, the National Airports Office (ONDA) has put in place a special system to accommodate MREs, as part of Operation Marhaba, launched on June 5 by the Mohammed Foundation V for Solidarity under the effective presidency of His Majesty King Mohammed VI.
Mr. El Khoudri indicated that Fez-Saïss airport recorded 908,250 arrivals until June 30, 2024, an increase of 12.16% compared to the same period of 2023.
For the month of June alone, no less than 170,908 passengers passed through Fez-Saïss airport, which represents a significant jump of 19.70% over one year, according to ONDA figures.
Also according to ONDA, some 1,243 flights landed or took off from Fez-Saïss airport in June, an increase of 11.68% compared to the same period in 2023. This figure reached 6,217 movements between January 1 and on June 30, up 6.78% year-on-year.
This enthusiasm for the spiritual capital of the Kingdom has resulted in the launch of a new air connection operated by Ryan Air between Fez and Zaragoza, with 2 frequencies per week on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Operation Marhaba, which is to continue until September 15, provides for a global reception system, activated simultaneously in Morocco, France, Spain and Italy. Intended to serve as a platform for the support and assistance of members of the community during the arrival and return phases, this system integrates with all the provisions and measures put in place by the various stakeholders. involved in the implementation of the operation.
The main interface of the operation, the Foundation is present through its twenty-four Marhaba reception sites, where social assistance and medical care services are provided.
In this sense, the authorities of Fez-Saïss airport have put in place a system intended to offer the necessary facilities to travelers with specific needs, organize passenger flows, reduce baggage delivery times and visibly display the transport prices from the airport to different directions.
As part of the same measures, stores, newsstands, pharmacies, restaurants, cafes and exchange offices are required to adjust their opening and closing times according to flight arrivals and to clearly display the prices of their products and services.
In terms of orientation services, assigned agents are made aware and encouraged to provide members of the Moroccan community living abroad with the information they need to facilitate their travel.
This mobilization was favorably received by MREs visiting the Kingdom for the summer holidays. “I can only congratulate the airport authorities and the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity for the measures they have put in place to facilitate our trip to Morocco,” Ismail, a young MRE who arrived, told MAP. from France.
Accompanied by his father in a wheelchair, Ismail particularly praised the support of the Mohammed V Foundation teams which makes it possible to shorten the wait for people with specific needs at the various airport checkpoints.
According to the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, a total workforce of 1,400 people is mobilized throughout the operation. It includes Foundation executives, social workers, doctors, paramedical staff as well as volunteers, who are deployed to listen to Moroccans living abroad, assist them and provide them with support and assistance. necessary assistance.
The Foundation has also set up a Marhaba call service, available 7 days a week and 24 hours a day for the duration of the operation, in addition to the mobilization of the Central Coordination Office (BCC), which brings together the representatives of all government institutions and administrative services, in order to urgently resolve all the problems that may be encountered by Moroccans around the world and to find adequate solutions.