An Air Transat Airdbus A330. Credit: Air Transat.
The inaugural flight of the Montreal-Marrakech line operated by the Canadian company Air Transat arrived on June 13 on the tarmac of Marrakech-Menara airport, announced the Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT) in a press release. The airline’s managers, Sebastian Ponce, revenue director and Joseph Adamo, sales and marketing director were on board this first flight, adds the same source.
This first connection between Marrakech and North America reflects the efforts of the ONMT to increase point-to-point air connections with North America. For the Office, this connection is a new step in its “Light In Action” offensive strategy to conquer the North American market.
In this context, the implementation of this flight meets two strategic objectives. First, it connects the Kingdom’s tourist capital to Canada, an increasingly important market, as seat capacity from Canada to Morocco has increased by 87% over the last 10 years. This increased from 87,000 to 164,000 seats per year. The ONMT, fully aware of this, is determined to seize the development potential of this market.
Secondly, Air Transat is all the more attractive for Morocco as the company is the leading vacation carrier in Canada. It was notably voted the best leisure airline in the world in 2023 according to the Skytrax ranking, underlines the ONMT in its press release.
According to forecasts, this new line will not only fuel tourism in Marrakech but will also open up a wide range of possibilities for travelers with access to the seaside resorts of Essaouira, Taghazout and Agadir, but also to mountain destinations and ecotourism (Azilal, Béni Mellal, etc.), the South (Ouarzazate, Zagora and Merzouga), and even the city break and cultural destinations of the North (Casablanca, Rabat, Meknes and Fez).
Alongside the inaugural flight of this line, the ONMT is organizing a Fam trip in favor of the top management of the Transat group from June 13 to 16. Meetings with officials from the National Confederation of Tourism and the Marrakech-Safi Regional Tourism Council are planned in order to strengthen relations with operators and lay the foundations for a fruitful collaboration for the Moroccan tourism sector.
As a reminder, the ONMT and Air Transat signed, on October 25, 2023, a strategic partnership agreement, the first operational measure of which is the opening of this Montreal-Marrakech line. The second North American company, after AirCanada, to operate in Morocco, Air Transat thus becomes the only airline in North America to offer direct flights to Marrakech twice a week in summer and once a week in winter. .
