Moroccan news site Le360 cites sources saying that Royal Air Maroc will fly 4 weekly nonstop flights between Casablanca And Tel Aviv starting on January 16th. The 5.5 hour flights will be operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliners and will reportedly cost about $500 round-trip. That’s a fraction of the time that it currently takes to fly between Israel and Morocco.
Earlier this month Israel and Morocco agreed to normalize their relationship.
Still, the timing seems odd to me. Israel has just entered a 3rd lockdown and requires most returning citizens to quarantine in a COVID hotel for 10-14 days. Israel has also extended their ban on most foreign nationals through at least February 1st. Plus, 2 weeks is a very short window to start marketing and selling flights.
Morocco allows foreign nationals to enter the country if they are from visa exempt countries like the US and provide a negative PCR test from within 72 hours of departure. I’d imagine that Israel and Morocco are going to work on a visa waiver deal as well.
I’m sure the planes would be packed during normal times, but are there really going to be enough passengers to fill 274 (787-8) or 302 (787-9) seats given the current constraints?
Or does state controlled Royal Air Maroc just really want to be first to the market even if means taking on losses?
Morocco has been on my bucket list since reading this DDF Trip Report. You can find the DDF Master Thread on Morocco here.
This route open up a great way to fly between the US and Israel! A flight from JFK to Casablanca takes less than 7 hours, making it a much more practical connection point than Dubai or Abu Dhabi, which are 13 hour flights.
There are bargains to fly on Royal Air Maroc using AA or Etihad miles. With excellent award space in coach and business class, this could be an incredible way to use American or other OneWorld partner miles to fly to Israel.
Have you been to Morocco? Will you fly to Israel via Morocco?
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11 Comments On "Will Royal Air Maroc Offer Dreamliner Service Between Casablanca And Tel Aviv Starting In Just 2 Weeks?"
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How about Qantas points? Do they add hefty fees?
I’d imagine that fees should be similar to booked RAM with Etihad miles:
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/milespoints/can-now-book-royal-air-maroc-awards-aa-com/
I’ll try to make a comparison chart when tickets go on sale to TLV.
British Airways Avios also works and taxes are similar to what Etihad charges
It costs about 300 dollars in taxes and surcharges when booking washington/ NY to Morocco roundtrip with Avios
the fees might be similar but you wrote in that article that etihad charges per segment does Qantas charge per segment? and is availability the same across the board if I don’t see the date of the flight i need on aadvantage i shouldn’t bother checking Qantas or Etihad?
I imagine we can kiss that generous award space goodbye with everyone jumping to book to Israel
problem is that Marrakech is the place you want to be, still another stopover, though easier.
i would say either Ouarzazate or Dakhla. the rest are cities like others these are gateways to or in the desert. That’s real Morocco. Wilderness at its apogee
I find it interesting that all the people who were hestiant to fly Royal Jordanian(an Arab country at peace with Israel), are lining up to go to UAE, Morroco and the like.
Not all that interesting.
Jordanians are Palestinians and it’s personal to them. It’s not personal to Emiratis or Moroccans and locals are much more welcoming.
BTW I flew Royal Jordanian TLV-AMM-JFK, it was one of my most pleasant flights.