Hello from Munich! After flying from Miami to Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc’s new Boeing 787-9, I connected to Munich on one of their 737s. I booked this itinerary for just 44,000 Etihad Guest miles one-way in business class, which I’d consider to be an excellent deal.
In this post I wanted to share my initial thoughts, and I’ll have a full trip report soon.
Royal Air Maroc 737 business class cabin & seats
Royal Air Maroc’s 737 business class cabin consists of a total of 12 seats, in a 2-2 configuration. These seats are similar to what you’d find in domestic first class within the US, with a bit more legroom.
That’s a great thing. While Royal Air Maroc is an African airline, in many cases they’re competing with European airlines offering their short haul product, which consists of economy with a blocked middle seat. So in that sense Royal Air Maroc is a significant upgrade.
Royal Air Maroc business class food
Royal Air Maroc offers printed menus and a decent enough meal for this roughly three hour flight.
Service began with drinks and packaged almonds. While Royal Air Maroc’s only champagne on long haul flights is rose, on short haul flights they instead have Laurent-Perrier brut, which is impressive.
I was served a tray with an appetizer consisting of smoked duck breast, as well as the dessert, which was a praline mille-feuille.
For the main course there were two options, including steamed salmon with rice and vegetables.
Then a cheese trolley was rolled through the cabin.
It wasn’t the most amazing meal ever, but I’d say it was significantly better than what most European airlines offer on similar flights.
Royal Air Maroc business class amenities
There were no amenity kits or anything on this short flight, but there were pillows and blankets, which were alright.
Royal Air Maroc business class entertainment & Wi-Fi
Unfortunately Royal Air Maroc’s 737s don’t have personal entertainment or Wi-Fi. However, they do have:
- Overhead monitors, which alternate between showing films and showing a moving map
- An app where you can stream a very limited number of movies and TV shows
My biggest frustration was that this version of the 737 didn’t have power ports, so I couldn’t charge my electronics.
Royal Air Maroc business class service
There were two flight attendants taking care of the three business class passengers, and the service was consistent with my past experiences on Royal Air Maroc — service was really friendly but also unpolished.
A note about Casablanca Airport
When I wrote about flying Royal Air Maroc yesterday, a few of you commented “I would never fly them again, Casablanca Airport is HORRIBLE.” Based on my past experiences I’d agree, but they just recently opened a terminal extension, and the new terminal is such a massive improvement over the old one.
There was no line whatsoever at transit security, and the new terminal extension is even kind of nice.
Royal Air Maroc even has a new lounge, which is significantly nicer than the previous one.
I actually think this is now one of the best airports to connect at in the region.
Royal Air Maroc 737 business class bottom line
Royal Air Maroc offers a solid business class product on their 737s, especially if you’re comparing them to the business class products offered by most European airlines offering routes to Casablanca.
Royal Air Maroc has good seats that are comparable to what you’d find in the US, and they also have friendly and well intentioned service, and pretty good food. Just don’t expect many frills beyond that.
My only real complaint is that I wish they had power outlets.
If you’ve flown Royal Air Maroc’s 737 business class, what was your experience like?
@Julia
No, but DEBIT is my inspiration in life...
Royal Air Maroc 737-800 was the only time I experienced an aborted takeoff. It was on a domestic flight, Casablanca to Marrakech, back in 2008. The plane started down the runway, then came to a stop; the pilots said that some indicator lights came on, and a moment later they said the issue was fixed, taxied back to the start of the runway, and took off without issue.
The other weird thing about that flight...
Royal Air Maroc 737-800 was the only time I experienced an aborted takeoff. It was on a domestic flight, Casablanca to Marrakech, back in 2008. The plane started down the runway, then came to a stop; the pilots said that some indicator lights came on, and a moment later they said the issue was fixed, taxied back to the start of the runway, and took off without issue.
The other weird thing about that flight was that at the time Morocco did not have the policy of clearing immigration and customs at the first point of arrival. So after landing in Casa from JFK we were directed to domestic connections without passing through immigration and customs. When we arrived in Marrakech the entire mix of domestic and international passengers were funneled through the same checkpoints, where I passed immigration; I'm not sure what they did with the domestic passengers, or how they could tell who was domestic and who was international.
@Anonymous Alcoholic
Aren't you and Debit the same person?
It could be just me, but the food looks absolutely horrible.
the bar is bare bones...
That bar in the lounge look bare bones. They seem to be lacking... Wont be enough to handle the type of scum that DEBIT hates (white, male, republican)...
@lucky why do you not travel with a portable charger?
Hi Ben, could you please help me and give some infos regarding arrival procedures and expereience in CMN airport? I will be arriving with my mom (75 years old). Have you seen the bus stop for hotel shuttles at arrivals? Where is it situated?
Thanks for your help in advance!
Mick
Traveled from Madrid thru casablanca to Nairobi and it was ectic..I didnt like the ignorance of the cabin crew members.
I had to travel for more than 9 hours with my 10 months baby on my thighs because i was given a seat in between others,of which they could exchange with someone from the front seats so i could lie the baby in the aircraft baby bed.
I wont recommend it at all.
RAM is definitely much better than any of the main European carriers. In terms of seating they are similar to Aeroflot and Turkish. Personally, I would see a little advantage of Turkish when it comes to food, at as long as it’s Do&Co catering (but there are rumors TK is going to change catering ...)
The departure at CMN is definitely a disaster. Do they really have to check my passport for seven times??
I flew Lufthansa Business class from Munich to Tunis and it was economy seat with a nice meal so this is fantastic compared to that. However be careful what plane you get with RAM because their Airbus short haul international is like the worst version of Lufthansa's Business class- regular economy seats and terrible plane and service and food. So depending on what plane you may or may be better off on a European airline....
I flew Lufthansa Business class from Munich to Tunis and it was economy seat with a nice meal so this is fantastic compared to that. However be careful what plane you get with RAM because their Airbus short haul international is like the worst version of Lufthansa's Business class- regular economy seats and terrible plane and service and food. So depending on what plane you may or may be better off on a European airline. Thanks for the info re the other plane options!!!
I honestly thought that the sticker on the bulkhead in the title pic meant that they had wifi. I wonder how many people get disappointed when they try to connect...
On a narrow body plane, they're definitely preferable to flying on a European airline to and from Europe in business class.
What were the taxes and fees through Etihad?
Are you spending the night in Munich or just a quick connection?