Two partnership contracts relating to the “Winter” programming of the airline Easyjet on Morocco, were signed, Wednesday in Marrakech, between the Moroccan National Tourist Office (ONMT) and EasyJet.
Initialed by the General Manager of the ONMT, Mr. Adel El Fakir, the CEO of the Group and CEO of the airline EasyJet, Mr. Johan Lundgren and the CEO of the Tour Operator EasyJet Holidays, Mr. Gary Wilson, the two contracts s are part of EasyJet’s growth strategy in Morocco, pending the signing, in the coming weeks, of a larger partnership spread over several years which will record the significant increase in capacity and the opening of new airlines to several Moroccan destinations.
These future developments were on the agenda of a working meeting held between the delegation representing Easyjet and a Moroccan delegation, chaired by Mrs. Fatim Zahra Ammor, Minister of Tourism, Handicrafts and Social Economy and Solidarity.
“This meeting offered the opportunity to share with the leaders of the British airline Easyjet Morocco’s ambition to double the number of arrivals by 2030 and how the said company can be part of this ambition”, said underlined Ms. Ammor in a statement to the press on the sidelines of this meeting.
Expressing the government’s commitment to achieving “win-win” strategic partnerships with global players, the Minister noted that tourism is “an essential sector for the economy of our country, and our government is committed to support partnerships that are part of accelerating the development of this sector”.
For his part, Mr. El Fakir indicated that “the objective of this future partnership will be to consolidate the presence of Easyjet on Agadir and Marrakech, but also to imagine the common strategic partnership which will allow EasyJet to develop on d other Moroccan destinations and to connect the Kingdom to the 34 European markets from which it already operates”.
This is part of the ONMT’s strategy to forge partnerships with the major airlines and the largest tour operators, in order to support the development of tourism in Morocco and also to ensure the development of all regions from a tourism point of view, explained Mr. El Fakir, indicating that the long-term ambition is to ensure that all Moroccan destinations are connected internationally.
For his part, the CEO of the group and CEO of the British airline, Mr. Johan Lundgren, indicated that this meeting offers the opportunity to explore new growth opportunities for EasyJet in Morocco, recalling that the airline has already transported more than 18 million passengers since the launch of its flights to Morocco in 2006.
“We are discussing with the Moroccan authorities how we can consolidate and develop our presence in Morocco, no longer as an airline only, but also as a TO which will be able to fill a large part of its air seats to Morocco with its own customers in packages”, noted Mr. Lundgren.
Mr. Gary Wilson, CEO of EasyJet Holidays, for his part, underlined that the partnership contracts will contribute to “promoting our continued growth in Morocco. We are a new company, but we have huge ambitions and we fully intend to be one of the biggest tour operators in Europe and bring large numbers of tourists back to Marrakech and Morocco in the next few years”.
In this sense, he indicated that Morocco is “a fantastic destination and extremely popular with our customers”, noting that “the cooperation we have established with the Moroccan government and the ONMT is very useful to develop our activity in Morocco in the years to come”.
The leaders of EasyJet, 5th company in Europe with more than 100 million passengers in 2019, are visiting Marrakech from October 4 to 7, 2022, to study the possibilities of increasing their operations and investments in Morocco.
Recall that with nearly one million annual seats operated in Morocco, EasyJet is the 5th airline in terms of international capacity to the Kingdom.
While operating in Marrakech, Agadir, Tangier and Essaouira in pre-pandemic, the company has temporarily resumed its operations in Agadir and Marrakech and aims to return to the level before the health crisis, by positioning itself no longer as an airline. only, but also as a tour operator.
A synergy that will allow the group to fill a large part of its air seats to Morocco with its own customers in packages.
An ambition jointly welcomed by Mr. Abdellatif Kabbaj, honorary president of the National Confederation of Tourism, Mr. Lahcen Zelmat, President of the National Federation of the Hotel Industry, and Mr. Mohamed Semlani, President of the National Federation of Agencies Travel who also took part in this meeting.
Source: MAP
