Royal Air Maroc face à l'Open Sky in marrakech marrakech marrakech Travel Marrakech

The Open sky, or "open sky", with the European Union is a deliberate choice of the Morocco. It should be noted that a first query of the Kingdom was sent to Europe in... 1997 to liberalize air space, motion then dismissed by a cautious Europe

The liberalisation of the skies is a great success; but the major airlines have real challenges of survival. Should we move towards new alliances?

Since the royal speech of January 2001, our country has decided to make tourism a key lever of development and growth.

In this new environment, Royal Air Morocco to manage the transition from a safe, essentially marked by a comfortable duopoly between the France and the Morocco Air France-RAM, and a new fierce competitive environment characterized by the arrival of a new offers massive low cost, low-priced, supported on new Internet distribution channels. This policy has been a great success for the Morocco since it has allowed, over 3 years (between 2003 and 2006), to achieve an increase of 60% of international passengers to our country, from 5.3 million to 8.5 million!

Indeed, the results have been immediate in terms of increase in the number of passengers. Examples, in the same period, London-Marrakech traffic was almost multiplied by 4 (from 78.000 to 300,000 passengers) while the traffic between the France and Marrakech has doubled (from 750,000 to passenger 1.600.000).

The release of the sky led to the release of tourism initiatives and development of the impressive strengths of our country as a destination of leisure on the beach, the cultural but also as a partial residence country. The Morocco has become in a few years the destination expatriation to fashion, cheap but quality, for the French but also for other European peoples such as the British and the Spanish.

The challenge of survival of this new environment is felt on the planes of the Royal Air Morocco in its shops, its commercial agencies, by all of the teams of the company. They know that the United States and Europe the deregulation and liberalization have resulted in the end of major airlines and the abandonment of traditional networks to those who have survived by focusing on the long haul and traffic of continuation, beyond the reach of the low cost. For example, they attend today the troubles of the prestigious South African Airways: the South African company has decided the dismissal of 1,100 agents, the judgment of operating its fleet of B747 and the cessation of the Johannesburg-Paris line, in what appears to be a last attempt to escape to the filing of balance.

· "closed airports" against Open sky

And they also know that 5,000 jobs in the RAM protection remains an important Government concern, but may be put on the balance before hundreds of thousands of new jobs that represents the development of the tourism sector, development requires the entry of new players, attracted by a liberal administrative environment, or even unbalanced, as you can see, from time to time, through the attitude of the European airport authorities. Indeed, the "Open sky" European translates sometimes "closed airports" and the Royal Air Morocco, while refusing to pay in the trial of intent, even less in the suspicion of discriminatory practices, notes that its new applications for landing are often constrained in the facts.

· Royal Air Morocco reaction

The reaction of Royal Air Morocco focuses on two strategic axes:

the creation of a low cost tool to strengthen its capacity for development in the market with strong growth in the tourist transport from Europe;
the development of the exceptional geographical potential of the Mohamed V airport in Casablanca between Africa, America, the Middle East and Europe. It has thus strengthened the international dimension of the Casablanca hub orienting it towards a logic of correspondence medium-haul/long-range over-water. Royal Air Morocco has set the objective to develop its international traffic passing by via Casablanca to 45% in the 2007-2008 horizon. It was 5% in 2002, it was 35% in 2006 and it continues to grow in 2007. In this hub strategy, the company has developed its activity in Africa. Today, it is not less than 98 direct frequency per week to Africa, out of Casablanca. Our scheduled flights programme offers over 250 possibilities for connectivity in Africa to the rest of the world with optimum connection times. Indeed, our traffic of continuation out of Africa via Casablanca has increased from 63% in 2006. To support this strategy, the company continued to invest in the development and modernization of the fleet and it will thus be part of the first companies in the world to receive the B787 Dreamliner in 2008.

· New positioning

Royal Air Morocco has also operated a new positioning marketing through a strong focus on the client, a new organisation fully oriented on the client and its expectations, a new strategy products and services and a more aggressive pricing policy.

Finally, the company has reinforced its penetration at the portfolio level high contribution (customer Affairs, corporate...). It continues to offer a "real" Business between Europe and the Morocco service, at the time where constraints of fleet harmonisation and competition from low cost on the short-haul prohibit often in fact European companies to present large fixed seats in Business class and offer the traditional benefits of business class. Indeed, to differentiate this product, the concept of "European business" had to be introduced into European companies. RAM considers that the average length of three hours between the Morocco and Europe and between the Morocco and the Africa of the comfortable conditions of carriage for frequent travelers that represent the businessmen and other passengers justifies high contribution.

· Atlas Blue

To accompany the Vision 2010, Royal Air Morocco created "Atlas Blue", a company built on the low cost model. The objective is to participate significantly in the delivery of expected tourist flows. Atlas Blue towards the one. This company with a dozen aircraft, including four Airbus A321, is also the low costs of Royal Air Morocco tool, and allows us to offer to customers who request, very affordable rates.

It is also a reference and a laboratory for the permanent réengineering of the process and the Organization of the parent company and the implementation of successful commercial web sites. Is it the future of the RAM in the battle of regular lines "point to point", i.e. without continuation, between Europe and the Morocco. To the beginning of 2007, the Group Royal Air Morocco is globally registered that positive effects to the opening of the sky. The increase in the fleet did not cease, from 30 aircraft in 2002 to 45 aircraft in 2007 and a prospect of 60 by 2010. The use of aircraft rose from 8 h per day to 12 hours a day in a few years, bringing the productivity of the equipment at the level of the low cost. The growth of traffic is supported until the beginning of 2007 to a level between 15 and 20% per year. Operational costs fall regularly, sometimes polluted by unexpected exogenous increases: Chirac, soaring fuel tax. New markets outside air opened for the activities of the RAM in equipment maintenance and repair of engines, in assistance on the ground of the 60 other companies serving the Morocco and in the provision of meals on board. RAM Hotel subsidiary, Atlas Hospitality, is the second largest in its sector with 11 hotels, with the growth of tourism, closely related to the opening of the sky.

The battle of development but is far from over. The traditional competitors such as Iberia and Air France and adapt them also create their low specialized cost Clickair and Transavia.

An oversupply seems to settle that threatens filling coefficients and equilibrium expenditure-income. Between March and April 2007, the total number of weekly frequencies between the Spain and the Morocco went 42-94, or six to thirteen frequencies daily on average.

In addition to a settlement of the global growth of air transport, heard at the IATA experts expect the end of the "small" companies low cost and long-haul survival of barely three traditional companies in Europe.

Is there place even medium-term for a company "medium" as the RAM, attached to a unique hub, in the service of a single region of the world? Should move towards new breaks in the "business model" and seek new alliances, or even new partnerships? Concentration, lucidity, and innovation, this well is the words the order of the day.

Open sky Maghreb

Only the network in North Africa could be developed to its maximum, in the absence of liberal traffic rights with the Algeria, Mauritania and Egypt. RAM can ensure that six flights per week on the Algeria then we are already two flights a day on Dakar.

Today, it seems so unrealistic to speak of the Maghreb and an integrated economic market that we dare not report it as well for the airlift of a promising area of evolution, both for intermaghrébines links and connections beyond. It is in this sense that the Moroccan Ministry of transport asked a Maghreb sky Open which the absence is to deliver our market to European companies which are the only ones to dispose of the whole of the North African destinations.

New political metabolism

Two hundred thousand jobs could be created between 2003 and 2006 in tourism and the activities of the Vision 2010 (label of the policy of tourism development, determined, driven and supported by SM the King Mohammed VI) a resounding success.

And it is quite rare in our country attend an approach which perform in a same legislature between the decision, the definition, implementation work and the registration of the first results of a sectoral policy, for the note. The Kingdom of Morocco shows through this example that it has reached a new rhythm, a new insurance, a new metabolism in his approach to economic growth.

Royal Air Morocco has half a century

June 28, 1957, a few months after the independence of the Kingdom, Royal Air Morocco, national airline, was born of the merger between Air Atlas and Air Morocco. Its capital is then 70% owned by the State. The population was 443 officers and fleet consisted of three DC3... Fifty years later, 5,000 people work for the group, with a fleet of 43 aircraft:

Atlas Blue fleet 6 Boeing B737-400
Fleet RAM 1 B747 3 B767 2 B757 6 B 737-500 21 B737-NG The year 1972 sign the passage of the manual era to the electronic age. This is called the "reservation drum", a large wheel craft that is manipulated with the help of a pedal, to make the reservation manually, card by card, gives way to Automation: the electronic "carim" attached to the Alpha 3 of Air France system. Royal Air Morocco was the first African company to dispose of means of electronic reservation. 35 years later, she prepares to generalize the electronic ticketing... The increase in its traffic network truly begins in the 1970s (North Atlantic, Middle East, South America). The 1990s marked a further strategic redeployment: new strategy and new mode of management are (redesign of products and services, renovation of aircraft cabins, redevelopment of the points of sale, restructuring of the network by the increase of the offer on certain destinations, opening of new markets, customer retention, etc.) 1997 is the year of the launch of the hub of Casablanca Mohamed V and restructuring in depth accompanying this highly strategic direction. Air Senegal International, who has lived much turmoil lately, was born 7 years ago, owned 51% by Royal Air Morocco and 49% by the State of Senegal.