Passengers board a Royal Air Maroc aircraft. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Moroccan national carrier, Royal Air Maroc (RAM), has announced
plans to launch flights to five other East African cities only two years
after it began its Casablanca-Nairobi operations.
Country
manager Othman Baba said the move, inspired by Nairobi experience, is
part of RAM’s efforts to claw back a share of the intra-African aviation
transport which is currently controlled by foreign interests.
RAM
which joined the 23-member single African air transport market (SAAM)
last year, has said it will ride on the continental aviation framework,
to speed up regulatory approvals. It is so far the only North African
airline that runs a direct Nairobi—Ndjamena (Chad) flight.
“We
will be extending operations in East Africa in in the short-term with
new destinations like Dar es Salaam, Harare, Kigali, Maputo and
Khartoum,” said Mr Baba as RAM celebrated its 33rd flight on
Nairobi-Casablanca route on Thursday.
“With more than 30 destinations in West Africa, it is only
natural that RAM has decided to spread into East Africa to sustain its
African strategy and underscore Kenya as a regionals business hub and
gateway.”
Mr Baba said exploring new destinations for its clientele has been RAM’s mission since it was formed over 60 years ago.
The
airline, which began its Kenyan foray with two weekly fights in 2016,
has since adjusted its schedule to three fights a week.
RAM, together with Kenya Airways, Ethiopian, South African and Egypt air are collectively referred to as Africa’s Big Five.
In
a continent where state carriers have been blamed for exorbitant fares
that drive Africans to foreign airlines, Air Maroc says its key success
point remains its low ticket prices.
Mr Baba said RAM
has over the years maintained strict control over its costs structure
and processes, resulting in lower ticket price and cargo tariffs
especially in the last 15 years.
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