Cathay Pacific customers to benefit as Moroccan airline joins Oneworld Alliance
- Royal Air Maroc will give global group 14 core members when it joins in 2020
- The carrier gives alliance access to routes it did not previously have
During a ceremony in New York, Morocco’s national carrier was presented as the alliance’s first member from Africa. The Casablanca-based airline is expected to join the group by mid-2020.
The airline’s inclusion will give Oneworld 14 core members as it battles alongside other global groups, Star Alliance, of which Singapore Airlines is a member, and Skyteam, which includes Delta Air Lines.
From Casablanca, the airline adds dozens of destinations in North and West Africa which were not previously served by Oneworld. The benefits of the partnership work both ways, as the North African carrier’s presence stretches only as far as the Middle East, meaning it relies on partners to carry its passengers into Asia.
Abdelhamid Addou, the CEO of Royal Air Maroc, said he was keen to fly to Beijing when the new airport opens there next year.
“We have nearly 200,000 tourists visit from China to Morocco every year,” he said. “We have lots of trade between China, Morocco and Africa, and to us, it’s important that we invest in these new routes and we connect with different types of Chinese airlines.”