For the first time since its creation, the national company Royal Air Maroc (RAM) is preparing to accommodate European bills in its fleet. According to concordant sources cited by the site The platformAirbus was selected to become one of the two suppliers of RAM’s air expansion, thus breaking with a supply policy long focused on Boeing and ATR manufacturers.
The current agreement provides for the delivery of some 200 aircraft by 2037, according to information relayed by the French press. This unprecedented partnership with Airbus constitutes a major inflection in the industrial trajectory of the Moroccan company and marks the official entry of the European manufacturer into the lap of the RAM.
Imbalances denounced on airport slots
The official announcement of this alliance should take place in the coming weeks. However, the conclusion of the contract was delayed by several disputes relating to traffic rights and time slots (said slots) that Royal Air Morocco declares that he has lost in favor of recent renovation works in several French airports, in the forefront of which is Orly.
The Moroccan authorities denounce an asymmetry of treatment, claiming that French companies – notably Air France and its subsidiary at low cost Transavia – would never have been confronted with such restrictions at the Kingdom’s airports. The entrance of Airbus into the fleet of Royal Air Morocco – founded in 1957 and historically faithful to the American single -offs – embodies a discreet but decisive recomposition of industrial and diplomatic balances in the air sector.
