Iberia anuncia nuevas rutas aéreas a Marruecos
Morocco and Spain are forging ever closer ties and diplomatic relations. This time, tourism is one of the sectors that the two nations want to promote the most, which affirms a clear improvement in mutual ties. Iberia, Spain's most famous international airline, has just announced a new strategy in which six new routes have been established between Spain and Morocco.
This new programme will be launched in the summer and promises to bring great economic benefits for both parties. In addition to announcing a return to 85% of capacity comparable to what it was in 2019, Iberia has connected the Iberian country with four major Moroccan cities: Nador, Casablanca, Tangier and Tetouan.
From the summer season onwards, Nador airport will have three new routes linking it with Spain. From 25 July to 1 September this year, and with two flights a week scheduled, it will be possible to travel from Alicante-Elche airport to this destination. On the other hand, there will also be flights from Palma de Mallorca from the same date. Here, in addition to Iberia, the multinational will be competing with other travel companies such as Arabia Maroc and Air Europa, which have the same destination, so a battle is expected to be fought to attract travellers.
Finally, there will be two weekly flights from the city of Malaga to the North African nation. Iberia will compete this time with three major airlines to travel to Morocco. Travellers to Nador will also be able to take flights to this destination with Air Arabia Maroc, Royal Air Maroc (RAM) and the low cost company Ryanair.
On the other hand, Casablanca will be connected to Malaga. It is intended to create four weekly flights to Casablanca-Mohammed V airport from 1 June. This is a historic milestone, as it is the first time since 2010 that this route has been resumed. Here, Iberia will compete with Air Arabia Maroc and RAM for the largest number of tourists among its aircraft.
From the Costa del Sol, planes will also depart to Tangier-Ibn Battouta airport. This route will have two flights a week starting on 3 June and ending on 2 September this year. Iberia will compete on this route with RAM and Ryanair.
The last route will connect Malaga airport with Tetouan-Sana Ramel airport, which will have two flights per week. This route will start operating from 4 June and will end on 3 September. Iberia here will only have to compete with Ryanair in the search for customers, so it will have to improve on the fairly cheap offers offered by the low-cost company to travel to this city in the North African nation.
The establishment of new passenger routes to Spain can be seen as part of Morocco's new plan to promote tourism in the country. Spain is one of the strong points for this sector, as it is one of the nations from which most people tend to travel to visit the North African country. Therefore, this announcement could be an advantage for the Kingdom in attracting new tourists to the region and thus mitigate the effects of the closure during these months due to the high spread of the coronavirus at the international level.
In addition to air connections, the Alawi country and Spain have also resumed activity and maritime connections. These had been closed for more than two years after the outbreak of the pandemic, and the resumption of maritime transport services between the two countries reconfirms the establishment of new and prosperous diplomatic relations. It is also a relief for some 800,000 Moroccans living in Spain who have been unable to visit their home country for two years. They normally opt for the maritime route, as they are offered the possibility of taking their private vehicle with them. Thus, through the various ports in southern Spain, they can now set off for the North African nation and move around the country with ease.