Moroccan airports reach record visitor numbers in 2023

Data published by the National Airports Office (ONDA) show an exponential growth in the volume of people passing through Moroccan airports in the first nine months of the year. Compared to last year's statistics for the same period, the increase is 35%, i.e. more than a third more in the total number of visitors. But the figure becomes even more significant when compared to 2019, the last year before the pandemic. Compared to that year, the growth is 6%.
 
These figures show that the recovery in terms of tourism and air traffic has completely outweighed the effects of the pandemic. The airport that stands out above all others is Tetouan airport, whose increase is 459% compared to the figures for 2022. Others such as Essaouira have risen to 72%, Tangier to 44%, Nador to 36%, Oujda to 31%, Fez-Saiss to 23% and Agadir to 11%.

One of the most significant data in terms of recovery compared to 2019 is the Mohammed VI airport in Casablanca, whose recovery compared to data from four years ago is 84%, receiving almost six and a half million passengers. This increase is driven by the arrival of international flights.
 
Morocco's international airports have received more than 17 million passengers since January this year, 37% more than last year. The most attractive market for the Kingdom continues to be Europe, with which it maintains 84% of traffic, a sign of Morocco's growing appeal to European visitors. Nearly 15 million international passengers come from the Old Continent, while just over half a million come from North America.

At the end of last month, new routes were introduced that are expected to further increase these already very positive figures for the country. These new routes include Marrakech to Luxembourg, Oujda to Montpellier, Fez to Weeze, Tangier to Palma de Mallorca, Essaouira to Madrid and Guelmim to Lanzarote. With the establishment of all of them, it is expected to beat the annual visitor record of 25 million passengers in 2019.
 
This is also indicated by ONDA's own predictions, which in its press release indicate even more growth expectations for the last three months of the year. The positive trend, together with the new routes with the aforementioned European cities, open up a real possibility of surpassing a record that could have a new figure for the beginning of next year.