Posted May 1, 2009 12:35 PM
By James Mellon
Hope in Morocco
From the 215 entries on the Ascend start-up airlines spreadsheet, two of the companies are to be located in Morocco. One of them will be created by an airline from inside, and one from outside the country. But both are hoping to make the best of the opportunities available to them from the North African nation.
Air Arabia have been planning to set up an African operation for some time. In 2008 they assumed management control of Regional Air Lines, who operate ATR42’s and a pair of Beech 1900’s on routes to Portugal, Spain and within Morocco. The Sharjah based LCC have (not surprisingly) selected the A320 to operate the services. The airline had originally decided to base their new Moroccan subsidiary at Rabat, but instead will concentrate on serving destinations from Morocco’s largest population centre down the coast at Casablanca. The country is in a good geographic location suited to the services the airline plan to serve in Europe and Africa. Sharjah is 3800 miles away, but is in reach if the aircraft makes a tech-stop on route. As the crow flies, Cairo is pretty much in-between the two. Much remains to be seen. If for example Air Arabia Maroc pull away from the traditional low cost approach of operating point to point services, and link Europe with Africa cost-effectively, they’ve tapped a lucrative niche. RAM better watch out.
In the meantime, the national carrier has been making plans for their own off-shoot airline. Initially it was known as Atlas Inter, but a more-straightforward name now aligns it closer to the parent airline. Royal Air Maroc Express will also start operations within the next few months with ATR’s. The French built turboprops will be ideal for the services the airline will run. They have ordered six brand new aircraft with two more on option with deliveries to begin in spring 2011. To bridge the two year gap before they arrive, ATR will supply RAM Express with four second hand ATR72’s so they can commence operations in the near future.
Those operations will focus on revamping and strengthening the Moroccan domestic market. Currently RAM’s smallest aircraft type in service is the Boeing 737-500, which can be found operating domestic routes from Casablanca to Fez, Laayoune, Ouarzazate and Marrakech. A bit large perhaps, for sectors that are all less than 200 miles long. Admittedly though these are routes that are not operated with any great frequency, so when they are only once a day it does not seem so bad. But there is great flexibility that can be achieved with the turboprops. They can open up new markets for RAM too, just what the Moroccan Public Authorities (who are supporting the venture) would like to see.
There are already some domestic services operated by ATR’s that already carry RAM flight numbers. But they are not aircraft owned by RAM. They are owned and operated by; you guessed it, Regional Air Lines. But with Air Arabia’s involvement, will Regional continue to operate regional services? Time will tell.
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