Commercial air traffic increased by 13%, bringing the number of travelers to 1.69 million passengers in February 2023. 84% of this traffic is captured by the European market.
Traffic: The National Airports Office observed an 11% increase in passenger traffic in February as well as a recovery rate of 98% of aircraft movements compared to the same period of 2019.
Aviation activity showed good momentum in the second month of the year. During the month of February, passenger air traffic showed a clear increase compared to the same month of 2019. Thus, Morocco’s airports welcomed during this period a volume of commercial traffic of 1.87 million passengers, up 11% compared to the same period of 2019. “During this month of February, Casablanca Mohammed V airport welcomed 636,989 passengers via 5,410 flights, i.e. a recovery rate respectively of around 99 and 88 % compared to the same period of 2019”, we note from the latest press release from the National Office of Moroccan Airports (ONDA). Over the first two months of the year, commercial traffic reached a volume of around 3.85 million passengers, i.e. a recovery rate of 109% compared to the same period of 2019.
The observed trend shows a recovery in arrivals at the level of all of Morocco’s airport infrastructures. Significant rates of evolution have been noted. In this sense, we can cite Tangier airport where passenger traffic has recovered by 49% compared to the level reached in the same period of 2019. In this regard, there were 122,104 passengers in February. This traffic amounted to 252,573 passengers over the first two months of the year, thus marking a recovery rate of 144% compared to the end of February 2029. Air traffic at Oujda airport posted in February a positive evolution of around 48%, or 52,632 passengers transported during the said month. In total, this traffic amounts to 109,318 passengers, thus marking a recovery rate of 145%. ONDA also notes a 19% improvement in air traffic at Agadir airport in February and a recovery rate of around 128% for the first months of the year. In addition, the Office noted a recovery in traffic during the month of February at the airport of Nador (16%), Marrakech (15%) and Essaouira (13%). It also appears that several airports have recorded significant recovery rates, such as Casablanca-Mohammed V airport (99%), Ouarzazate (99%), Dakhla (95%) and Al Hoceima (90%).
With regard to international commercial air traffic, it marks an increase of 13%, bringing the number of travelers to 1.69 million passengers in February 2023. 84% of this traffic is captured by the European market. In this sense, we note arrivals of around 2.9 million passengers in the first two months of the year, i.e. a recovery rate of 115% compared to the same period of 2019. The market from North America saw its arrivals increase by 52% at the end of February 2023. For its part, air traffic with North America experienced a growth rate of around 52% at the time where those of the Middle and Far East and African markets recorded respective growth rates of 4 and 2% compared to February 2019.
At the same time, domestic air traffic recorded 179,406 passengers during the month of February with a recovery rate of 93% compared to the same month of 2019. In addition, ONDA lists a total of 14,432 passengers in February. airport movements once morest 14,676 movements recorded in the same period of 2019. The recovery rate observed in this regard stands at 98%. Air freight, for its part, posted a recovery rate of 79%, ie a volume of around 5,743 tonnes in February.