ETN Global Travel News
Royal Air Maroc, the Moroccan national airliner, is set to commence the first intra-Africa route to serve the Accra-Monrovia-Freetown corridor.
The service, scheduled to start in the middle of March this year will see the airline conducting three-times-a-week day flights from the Kotoka International Airport in Accra to Freetown via Monrovia.
Speaking at a media briefing in Accra to announce the new service, Adil Bahdya, the Managing Director of the airline said “the new service formed part of Royal Air Maroc’s African Development Strategy which is aimed at fostering trade and integration within the African continent.”
The airline through this initiative intends to “support African countries in their economic and tourism endeavors while meeting the mobility needs of the population.”
The flight from Accra to Freetown through Monrovia is a direct flight and as Mr. Adil reveals “the need to provide a seamless connection between cities on the continent to boost trade and improve relations” informed the airlines new initiative. The airline hopes that the punctuality of its flights and the quality of services will benefit patrons with business dealings in these three countries greatly.
The airline will operate this route with Boeing 737-700 aircrafts with a capacity of 114 seats.
The ECOWAS protocol on the free movement and transportation of goods and services was promulgated to boost trade and connectivity across borders in the West African sub-region but years after this agreement came into force, intra-West African trade remains a hugely cumbersome activity as a result of the lack of direct and reliable air transport services.
The launch of this new service by Royal Air Maroc is thus set to immensely help the free flow of people and thus improve cross-border trade in the sub-region.
Founded in 1957 as a result of a merger between the then Air Atlas and Air Maroc, Royal Air Maroc serves 90 destinations worldwide including 33 in Africa.
