São Paulo – Royal Air Maroc, Morocco’s state-owned airline, saw passenger numbers and revenues increase in 2013 from 2011 and 2012. According to results presented by Royal Air Maroc CEO Driss Benhima to government officials last Monday (20th) and released by the media this Tuesday (21st), the 9% increase in revenues and improvement in other indicators were enabled by the company’s restructuring process.
According to the results, the airline carried five million passengers last year, with a 76% occupancy rate, up 3% from 2012. In addition to the higher occupancy, the airline’s traffic volume was up 6%.
He mentioned that beginning in 2012 and throughout 2013, the airline restructured its network by launching new domestic and African routes, as well as flights to other continents. Furthermore, spending on ground staff was down 34% from 2011.
From March 2013 through August 2014, the airline started flying to 17 destinations outside of Africa. The route to São Paulo – the company’s sole destination in South America – was added in November last year. New African routes include Abuja, in Nigeria, and N’Djamena, in Chad, and the company has also launched flights from the Casablanca Airport to the Moroccan cities Tétouan and Zagora.
Benhima remarked, however, that the airline is still facing fierce competition. In 2014 alone, available flights to Morocco from other airlines increased by 8%. The increase was due to an “open skies” agreement signed by the country. The agreement provides for foreign airlines to operate in the countries covered by the deal.
Besides, Morocco’s airline is the sole company that does not enjoy exempt from the value-added tax on aircraft maintenance parts, according to the executive, and this places a burden on the company’s costs.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
