On July 23, 2026, Michael Achimugu, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s (NCAA) director of public affairs, published a scathing message on X threatening to recommend suspending Royal Air Maroc’s (RAM) operations in Nigeria. Instead, he listed three carriers as supposed alternatives, naming EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines and- surprisingly- Air Algérie.
Algerian media seized on the mention as proof that Air Algérie had become a “strategic alternative” to RAM in Nigeria. A close look at the numbers shows that framing does not hold up.
Air Algérie has flown to Abuja since April 2025, but its footprint remains marginal with only two weekly frequencies operated as a combined Algiers–Douala–Abuja routing, which in practice amounts to roughly one flight a week actually reaching Nigeria.
RAM, by contrast, runs two daily flights between Casablanca and Lagos plus a daily Abuja service with a total 21 weekly frequencies.
As Air Algerie maintains an occasional presence, the other has built what amounts to an air bridge.
The gap widens further once considering connectivity. More than 90% of Nigerian passengers flying RAM continue their journey beyond Casablanca, mainly toward English-speaking destinations such as the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, with Nigerians making up nearly 95% of traffic on the Lagos and Abuja routes.
That flow depends on a global route network able to sustain onward connections, something Air Algérie, with its far thinner network, cannot replicate. RAM also deploys Boeing 787 Dreamliners on some rotations, adding both seat capacity and long-haul comfort that Air Algérie does not currently offer on this segment.
If RAM’s Nigeria operations were suspended, the immediate losers would be Nigerian travelers themselves, given the absence of any carrier able to match its frequency, capacity, and connecting power. RAM, meanwhile, would have room to maneuver, redeploying aircraft to other African or international markets where demand is already strong, a flexibility reinforced by the fact that several countries are actively courting the airline to open new routes, sometimes with incentives attached.
What makes the episode more intriguing is Achimugu’s choice of alternatives. A note from the Moroccan think tank Institut Géopolitique Horizons points out that EgyptAir and Ethiopian Airlines are logical picks given their extensive African networks and strong Nigerian presence.
One plausible explanation offered by the think tank: Achimugu personally represented the NCAA’s director general at the inauguration of the Algiers–Abuja line in April 2025, so the airline’s name may simply have come naturally to mind.
Whatever the intent behind naming Air Algerie. A Once-weekly connection cannot substitute for a daily air bridge carrying nearly all-Nigerian traffic onward to global destinations via Casablanca’s hub.
