São Paulo – The Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc is expected to increase its frequency between Casablanca and São Paulo from four to five weekly flights by the end of this year. In an interview with ANBA, Royal Air Maroc’s regional director for Latin America, Othman Baba, said the company also plans to fly to Rio de Janeiro, but needs to operate at least five weekly flights to São Paulo in order to expand its operations in the country. The Moroccan airline is participating through Thursday (16) in the WTM Latin America trade fair in São Paulo, at the Moroccan tourism authority’s booth.
Royal Air Maroc operated flights to Rio de Janeiro until the early 1990s. It resumed operations in the country in 2013, but had to suspend them during the pandemic in 2020. It resumed flights permanently in 2024 with three weekly services, a frequency that was increased at the end of last year to four flights per week, always operated with a Boeing 787 aircraft.
“We are working to strengthen São Paulo. Then we can open operations in Rio de Janeiro. But it is not possible to achieve a sustainable level of operation before reaching five or six weekly flights to the single destination of São Paulo, which is the heart of our activity. Once sustainability is achieved, expansion becomes possible,” Baba told ANBA at WTM on Tuesday (14). This year, the company has started flying to more cities, including Los Angeles in the United States and Saint Petersburg in Russia, in addition to European destinations.
Baba said that operations in São Paulo have been a “success,” as the São Paulo–Casablanca route has an average load factor of 80%. For this reason, he explained that the company is “positive about the future.”
According to the regional director, 90% of travelers on this route are leisure tourists, including those visiting Morocco to see relatives and friends. The remaining 10% are business travelers, a segment with growth potential, Baba said, due to expanding trade relations between the two countries, especially in sectors such as agribusiness and energy. Baba noted that the presence of Morocco’s ambassador to Brazil at the fair, Nabil Adghoghi, shows the importance Brazil holds for Morocco.
The executive said the conflict in the Gulf is a concern because it directly impacts airline operations, particularly fuel costs. However, he noted that Morocco is “fortunate” to be far from war zones. He added that customers are not canceling their trips with the airline, except in conflict regions.
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*Translated by A.I.
