São Paulo – With 2.1 million passengers, air transport hit a record high in Morocco last June, as per figures released on Monday (15) by the National Airport Authority (ONDA, acronym in French). It was a 26.5% increase year-over-year.
The busiest in Morocco, Casablanca’s Mohammed V airport welcomed 877,655 passengers in June, up 22.9%. ONDA pointed out that most airports in the country recorded double-digit growth rates.
International traffic grew by 23.71%, to 1.85 million passengers, while domestic traffic reached 244,400 people, up 53%.
Most of the international issuing markets saw an increase in number of passengers, ONDA said. North America was the market that saw the highest growth (37%) driven by the creation of new routes to the United States. Europe grew by 24.7%, the Middle East 17.6% and Africa 16.6%. The Maghreb countries saw an increase of 28.6%. The region consists of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania and Libya.
In absolute terms, however, Europe remains the top market by far, with 1.43 million travelers in June. South America is the sixth, with 11,400 passengers transported in June, down 7.8% from a year ago. The Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc (pictured) runs direct flights to Brazil.
The five busiest routes last month were Casablanca to Orly in Paris; Casablanca to Charles de Gaulle in Paris; Marrakech to Orly; Marrakech to Madrid, Spain; and Casablanca to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Airlift in the country reached 17,800 takeoffs and landings, up 20% from June last year. Cargo flights increased by 4%, up 7,400 tonnes.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda