At the start of 2022, the Office recorded an improvement in air traffic at all of the Kingdom’s airports. Thus, 3.2 million passengers were welcomed during the period from February 7 to April 30, 2022, which represents 64% of the air traffic recorded during the same period of 2019.
The sky seems to be clearing up for air traffic during the year 2022. The summer season should confirm this trend. According to forecasts by the National Airports Office (ONDA), the average recovery rate compared to 2019 of passenger traffic at Moroccan airports would amount to 75%, ONDA announced last April, adding that “this rate would exceed 100% for several airports (Tangier Airport: 104%, Nador Airport: 104%, Al Hoceima Airport: 106%, Oujda Airport: 108%, Tetouan Airport: 537%) “, indicates the same source.
Improve connectivity
The 2022 summer season will be marked in terms of connectivity by the creation of 48 new lines. Two at Mohammed V Airport, 12 serving Marrakech Airport, 11 for Agadir Airport, and 9 for Nador Airport. Similarly, 48 air routes for several airports are scheduled for this period (Mohammed V Airport: Manama and Kuwait City; Tangier Airport: Rome and London-Stansted; Oujda Airport: Barcelona, Seville, Montpellier and Nantes ).
At the start of 2022, the Office recorded an improvement in air traffic at all of the Kingdom’s airports. Thus, 3.2 million passengers were welcomed during the period from February 7 to April 30, 2022, which represents 64% of the air traffic recorded during the same period of the year 2019. For its part, the year 2021 has was marked by the opening of the new terminal at Nador El Aroui Airport, which increased its capacity to 2 million passengers per year. The same year also saw the commissioning of the new terminal at Mohammed V Airport, reserved for domestic flights, the continuation of work at Rabat-Salé Airport, as well as other projects. Along the same lines, the Office continued in 2021 to carry out the projects that are part of its new strategic plan “Envol 2025”. According to the latest air traffic statistics, the airports of the Kingdom recorded during the month of March 2022 a volume of commercial traffic of more than 1.45 million passengers and 13,543 flights, a recovery rate compared to the same period of the year 2019 by 70% for passengers and 80% for airport movements. In this scheme, Mohammed V Airport, which is the first airport platform in the Kingdom, welcomed 565,484 passengers during the month of March through 5,330 flights. This traffic represents 71% of passenger traffic and 75% of airport movements recorded in March 2019. With 170,735 passengers welcomed in March 2022, domestic air traffic recorded a recovery rate of around 67% compared to compared to the same period of 2019.
International air traffic, for its part, recorded more than 1.28 million passengers, i.e. a rate of 71% compared to the same period of 2019. Apart from the markets of South America and the Maghreb countries , all other markets recorded recovery rates above 65% compared to the same period of 2019. Europe, which represents more than 82% of international air traffic, recorded a recovery rate of around 66% compared to 2019. It should be noted that the National Airports Office manages 26 airports, including 19 international ones. These airports offer an annual capacity of 38 million passengers per year.
The “Envol 2025” plan on track
To ensure a gradual return to air traffic following the pandemic period, ONDA has designed its new Envol 2025 plan. in the long term, taking into account the issues arising from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to ONDA. This plan aims to make the Office a global operator, customer-centric, which delivers the best international standards in terms of air navigation services, airport development and operation, while adapting to national and local issues in each of the locations. This strategy includes, among other things, the digitalization and automation of the customer journey. It is also a question of making airports “living places which embody in the eyes of visitors the identity of the territory where they are, and which allow their economic and tourist actors to radiate beyond their borders”, explains the same source. Moreover, the Office has set itself objectives for 2035 so that the major airports of the Kingdom can appear in the Skytrax ranking of the 100 best airports in the world in terms of quality of service. ONDA should also be among the leading air navigation service providers on a regional and continental scale.
