Abdelhamid Addou, CEO of Morocco’s carrier Royal Air Maroc says that the company’s performances have been largely positive despite lingering challenges and risks.
Addou made his remarks today before the Infrastructure and Energy committee at the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of the Moroccan parliament.
Listing challenges the company has faced over the past year, Addou said Royal Air Maroc has had to navigate several “risky and difficult” challenges linked to international competition.
The company has also not received any financial support from the government since 2012, Addou said, but he acknowledged a government intervention to tackle the crisis the company faced due to COVID-19 and high energy prices.
According to the statistics and data Addou shared on the company’s performances, Royal Air Maroc provided airline services for 2.7 million passengers within three months in 2023 from January and March.
The number is different from the same period in 2022, when the company provided air services for five million passengers.
To tackle these challenges, the company launched three new air routes as well as restored other lines including those connecting Moroccan destinations with Dubai and Tel Aviv.
Restoring air routes to international destinations like Miami, Doha, Las Palmas, Porto, Seville, and others also contributed to the company’s positive performances, state media news outlet SNRTNews reported.
Royal Air Maroc’s CEO also pointed out the agreements the company signed along with regional authorities to restore internal lines with a total of 25 airways.
COVID-19 was among the biggest challenges that impacted not only Royal Air Maroc but many other key actors and essential sectors of the Moroccan economy.
In 2020, RAM CEO addressed a letter to the company’s employees to outline the “violent” COVID-19 impact on the company’s turnover.
Addou said in 202- that the pandemic crisis cost the company nearly $5 million per day.
Back then, the CEO explained that the company had been in negotiations and discussions with the government since the start of the COVID-19 crisis.
“We are working closely with several members of the government to prepare a draft recovery plan capable of guaranteeing the sustainability of our business in the long term,” he said in 2020.
With the outbreak of COVID-19, Morocco suspended international and national air travel as part of its measures to tackle the pandemic.
Morocco lifted restrictions on air travel gradually with the improvement of the epidemiological situation.
Royal Air Maroc continues to pledge action to boost Morocco’s tourism as well as to strengthen its position.
In March, the company announced that it will provide 6.2 million seats on 90 air routes globally for its summer 2023 program.
According to the company, the offer was meant to meet the strong demand for its flights during a “positive context” characterized by a “good recovery of business travel and tourism.”
