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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

► MOROCCO: Ryanair officially announces Fez, Marrakech as new bases; Essaouira, Rabat as new airports.

Confirming our previous speculative post, Ryanair (FR) has officially announced it would open two new bases in Morocco in 2013, at Fez (No 56) and Marrakech (No 57) with a total of three based-aircraft, as Ryanair invests over USD210 million in Morocco. 


Onboard Ryanair 737

Ryanair also announced two new Moroccan airports: Essaouira and Rabat as it grows its operations in Morocco in 2013 to 60 routes and 8 airports, which will in turn deliver up to 2.5million passengers per annum and support 2'500 “on-site” jobs in Morocco.

Ryanair will grow in Morocco in 2013 as follows:

Fez (Base #56):
  • 1 based aircraft
  • 15 routes
  • 4 new routes: Lille, Nantes, Nimes & St Etienne (France)
  • 600'000 pax per annum
  • Generate 600 “on site” jobs
Marrakech (Base #57): 
  • 2 based aircraft
  • 22 routes
  • 7 new routes: Baden, Bergerac, Cuneo (Italy), Dole (France), Munich, Paris (Vatry) & Tours
  • 1million pax per annum
  • Generate 1,000 “on site” jobs
Essaouira (new airport): 
  • 2 routes: Brussels & Marseille
Rabat (new airport):
  • 3 routes: Brussels, Paris & Marseille
Mr. Lahcen Haddad, Minister of Tourism of Morocco said:
The Moroccan tourism sector is very proud of the confidence Ryanair is showing in the capacity of the Moroccan destination to grow and develop to become a leading market in the Mediterranean region.
This long-term commitment, as shown in the implementation of two bases in Fez and Marrakesh, and the opening of two new destinations (Essaouira and Rabat), is the first stage of a comprehensive strategy aiming, for Ryanair, to build a profitable business based on the huge growth potential of Moroccan tourism, as planned within the framework of Vision 2020.
The Moroccan Ministry of tourism is convinced that an efficient growth strategy can only succeed if it takes into consideration the emergence of new tourism products, the need for an adequate air service as well as for an efficient marketing activity. Through MNTO, we will strengthen our marketing efforts in the main source markets at which Ryanair will increase its air services to Morocco.
Source [Ryanair]