São Paulo – The Moroccan airline Royal Air Maroc (RAM) will start using four Embraer aircraft in its flights. The company has signed a lease agreement for E190 model units with the Irish company Aldus Aviation. The first jet should be delivered in 2014. The information has been released this Tuesday (15th) by the Brazilian aircraft manufacturing company.
The Moroccan airline is using the aircraft in routes connecting the Casablanca International Airport to countries in Europe and West Africa. The aircraft will be used in a 96-seat, two-class configuration, with 12 business class and 84 economy class seats.
“Morocco’s geographical strategic position offers excellent potential for developing air links with Europe and Africa. With the E190, Royal Air Maroc will have the capability and flexibility to further develop its network with an ideal combination of frequency and seat capacity,” said John Slattery, the chief commercial officer for Embraer Commercial Aviation, according to a press release issued by Embraer.
Presently, 70 Embraer commercial jets are being operated in Africa and the Middle East by companies and organizations like Egyptair Express, Kenya Airways, LAM (from Mozambique), Oman Air, Petro Air, Royal Jordanian, Royal Omani Police, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Saudi Aramco.
“While testing the aircraft on wet lease during the summer 2013 we became convinced that the E190’s reliability and low operating costs will help Royal Air Maroc open new routes and increase frequencies to Europe and African cities,” said Royal Air Maroc CEO Driss Benhima, according to the press release. “The aircraft perfectly matches our needs in terms of size and range without any compromise on comfort or baggage capacity,” he said.
Africa’s best
Royal Air Maroc and Embraer are attending an air show in Farnborough, United Kingdom. The Moroccan company has also informed that it has been voted by passengers as the best airline in Africa, the British consulting firm Skytrax.
As a result, RAM has gone from a two- to a three-star Skytrax rating. “But we will not be satisfied until we have four stars,” said Benhima according to a press release from RAM.
The airline flies from Casablanca to 32 destinations in Africa and carries over 1.2 million passengers throughout the continent, according to the press release.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
