2024-04-11 06:04:14
In response to concerns regarding any financial support granted to Ryanair by the Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT) for domestic flights, the ministry specifies in a clarification “that no subsidy or financial contribution has been granted to Ryanair to operate domestic flights in Morocco. This has been established from the beginning and will remain unchanged.”
Concerning the point relating to the “direct competition that the partnership with Ryanair would represent for Royal Air Maroc (RAM)”, the ministry underlines that “the objective of this partnership, as for all air partnerships, is complementarity”, noting that Ryanair flights do not overlap with those of national carriers, thus contributing to the horizontal development of connectivity and interconnection between regions.
And to maintain that the air connections offered by Ryanair (such as Tangier-Essaouira, Oujda-Marrakech, Fes-Agadir), contribute to strengthening the interconnection between Moroccan regions, promote domestic tourism, and allow foreign tourists to extend their stays discovering regions previously difficult to access.
On the issue of supposed requests for payment in euros for its domestic flights despite the obligation to sell these flights in dirhams to Moroccan citizens, the ministry reports that “Ryanair and its teams are actively working to resolve the issue of transactions levied on tourist allocations. “.
Furthermore, the ministry recalls that the recent successes of Moroccan tourism, including reaching a record of 14.5 million tourists in 2023, demonstrate the exceptional potential of the Morocco destination. The ambitious goals of the roadmap, as well as upcoming events such as the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2030 World Cup, make maximizing air capacity imperative. The real challenge is one of development and not protectionism.
To do this, Morocco must rely on its national companies, as well as on the strike force of all flagship or low-cost international companies. Finally, it is important to remember that the ambitious program contract signed by the government with RAM, aiming to increase its fleet to 200 aircraft by 2037, offers the company considerable and unprecedented means for its expansion and development. .
2024-04-11 06:04:14