RAM launches Casablanca-Tel Aviv direct flights by mid-December
Moroccan carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) announced on Tuesday the launch, as of December 12, 2021, of a new direct route connecting Casablanca to Tel Aviv, with three frequencies per week.
Flights will be scheduled from Casablanca every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday while flights from Tel Aviv to Casablanca will be scheduled every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, RAM said in a press release. The number of frequencies will increase to five flights per week, it added.
This new route meets the expectations of the Moroccan community in Israel and will facilitate trips for tourists and business operators.
RAM and Israeli carrier El Al signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to govern their ties in order to offer “the best services to customers.”
The agreement was signed by the two carriers’ CEOs Hamid Addou and Avigal Soreq, on the sidelines of the 77th Annual General Meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), held in Boston last October.
The MoU will allow the two companies to explore the possibility of concluding a Codeshare partnership on the direct routes operated between Morocco and Israel, as well as on the routes of their networks beyond their respective hubs.
The first direct commercial flights between Israel and Morocco had landed in Marrakesh on July 25, 2021, marking the launch of non-stop flights between Morocco and Israel since the two countries agreed to resume diplomatic ties in December 2020 under a US-brokered deal.
The two flights that landed that day in Marrakech were operated by Israir and El Al.
The launch of the direct air route is a boon for Morocco’s Covid-19-hit tourism sector which aspires to attract up to 200,000 tourists from Israel where up to 1 million people are of Moroccan origins.
The launch of non-stop flights makes it easier for Israelis to visit Jewish shrines and tourist attractions in Morocco.
Morocco recognizes the Jewish constituent as a component of its national identity and upon directives from King Mohammed VI, the country refurbished Jewish shrines, cemeteries and synagogues.
