by Tarek Bazza
The MAD 2.23 billion extension projects the King launched include the new Terminal 1 at Casablanca’s airport and new terminals at other domestic airports.
King Mohammed VI inaugurated the extension project of Terminal 1 at Casablanca Mohammed V Airport and new air terminals at other domestic airports on Tuesday.
The extension project of the new Terminal 1 of Casablanca airport, which covers an area of 76,000 square meters, can receive an annual capacity of 7 million passengers.
The almost MAD 1.6 billion project includes “eight new aircraft parking spaces: three for large planes and one for Airbus 380,” Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) reported.
The Terminal 1 extension project will increase the airport’s overall capacity to 14 million passengers a year. In 2018, Casablanca received 9.7 million passengers.
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The King also launched the new Area Control Center (CCR) of Agadir air navigation safety and new air terminals of the Guelmim, Zagora, and Errachidia airports. The CCR is located near the Agadir Al-Massira Airport over an area of 3 hectares.
The National Office of Airports (ONDA) carried out the projects for MAD 647.7 million.
The extension project of the new terminal at Guelmim Airport covers an area of 7,000 square meters, allowing a capacity of 700,000 passengers per year. The terminal also has 2,000 square meters of administrative and technical buildings and an upgraded aircraft runway and parking space.
The Zagora airport extension project has a new terminal with an annual capacity of 250,000 passengers, a surveillance tower, and several technical and administrative buildings.
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The new terminal at Errachidia Moulay Ali Cherif Airport covers an area of 3,500 square meters and is able to receive 300,000 passengers per year.
The extension projects, according to MAP, followed the royal instructions to provide several cities in Morocco with modern airport infrastructure to meet the growing number of passengers at the national airports and “to support the domestic socio-economic and tourism development.”
Last year, Moroccan airports received over 22,534,000 passengers, 10 percent more passengers than in 2017, according to the National Office of Airports (ONDA).
Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca welcomed 43 percent of Moroccan international air traffic in 2018, receiving 9,732,044 passengers, up 4 percent from the previous year.
