As I’ve said before, I’m always excited when smaller airlines join the major alliances, even if they don’t necessarily have the best reputation. That’s because often it is most practical to fly those airlines, and ultimately you’re better off being able to earn and redeem miles on them, not to mention take advantage of consistent elite benefits.
While oneworld seems to be on a kick lately with new member acquisitions, it looks like Star Alliance may have a small victory up their sleeve. Rumor has it that Royal Air Maroc is in the final stages of negotiations with Star Alliance, and that a formal announcement about them joining Star Alliance should be made in the coming days.
Royal Air Maroc would be the fourth African Star Alliance member airline, after EgyptAir, Ethiopian, and South African Airways.
Royal Air Maroc’s fleet presently consists of one 747, one 787, four 767s, and then a bunch of regional aircraft.
Here’s Royal Air Maroc’s routemap:
I’ve long wanted to visit Morocco, and Royal Air Maroc’s nonstop flight from New York to Casablanca seems like a convenient way to get there.
Have you flown Royal Air Maroc, and if so, what was your experience like?
lucky, a Brazilian blogger is claiming that RAM will join OW.
http://passageirodeprimeira.com/royal-air-maroc-deve-entrar-para-oneworld-ainda-este-ano/
(in Portuguese)
I fly Royal Air Maroc fairly often as I've lived in a few different West African countries for six years now. On the one hand, this is great news because I've been dying to get useful miles for those flights! Their crew are usually friendly and they certainly have the coverage that would otherwise be lacking for many of these countries. However, their planes are usually run down, check-in often does not have enough agents,...
I fly Royal Air Maroc fairly often as I've lived in a few different West African countries for six years now. On the one hand, this is great news because I've been dying to get useful miles for those flights! Their crew are usually friendly and they certainly have the coverage that would otherwise be lacking for many of these countries. However, their planes are usually run down, check-in often does not have enough agents, transferring in Casablanca is annoying (long lines at security for transfers, confusing process to get a hotel room if you have a long layover, many cases of items being stolen from luggage, etc.) and the food is not so great.
But they really should do something about that font they use for their English name... Quite dreadful. Makes it look like a cartoon actually. And it looks even more dreadful on the dirty euro-white planes at CMN :(
I used to fly LHR-CMN and BRU-CMN quite regularly a number of years ago (mid 90's) in both Y and J. Back then they compared pretty poorly with BA and Sabena.
The biggest issue they had was their service which was ranged from nonchalant / dismissive to flat-out awful. I'd heard their long-haul crews were more enthusiastic. Check-in at CMN was always a bit if a bear-pit as well, particularly during Ramadan
I'd be keen...
I used to fly LHR-CMN and BRU-CMN quite regularly a number of years ago (mid 90's) in both Y and J. Back then they compared pretty poorly with BA and Sabena.
The biggest issue they had was their service which was ranged from nonchalant / dismissive to flat-out awful. I'd heard their long-haul crews were more enthusiastic. Check-in at CMN was always a bit if a bear-pit as well, particularly during Ramadan
I'd be keen to try them again though - their new 787 looks pretty good and if they've solved some of their service issues they'd be a viable solid option for Europe / US to Africa.
@Marcus I don't think you'd be able to upgrade with IB Avios, and they are really only a decent value on long-haul travel. I have the IB chart for AT along with a map at http://saverocity.com/miles4more/award-booking-east-coast-avios/
@kenny. Thanks!
I did their JFK-CMN last December in business and actually had a good experience on board. The seat wasn't a true lie-flat but it was more than comfortable enough and the food was nice. The ground experience is another story.
I suppose more airlines in an alliance is a good thing. Wanted to check out the seat map for JFK-CMN but RAM isn't even on SeatGuru!
@kenny Booked non refundable tix LHR to Casablanca and Marrakech to LGW. Did not know you could redeem IB Avios! can you use IB Avios to upgrade? Thx
I flew them in 2007, JFK-CMN-RAK. The CMN-RAK flight (maybe 45 minutes long) was suppose to be a 737, but the bus pulled up to their 747 and we all boarded. There could not have been 30 people on that plane! The main level was all coach and I think we all fit in the first 10 rows in the nose.
You can already redeem IB Avios for AT flights, and this will likely remain the best option for award travel due to the short distance and N. America - Africa region-based award prices.
Flew JFK-CMN a couple of years ago in Y on a 767 thanks to an AF oversell. The jet's interior was a little worn down, but the flight and the service were perfectly acceptable, and the convenience of the nonstop definitely makes it worth consideration.
I flew them in about 2000/2001 from Paris to Morocco. Was scheduled for a 737 or other narrowbody and was surprised to see that the flight was switched at the last minute onto a 747. Something about a maintenance rotation. Anyway, I've never seen such an empty 747. Other than that, I remember nothing particularly good or bad about the flight :)
Casablanca airport is a great place to people watch. In 2007 I had a 7 hour layover there between AMS and Accra. The mix of different people from all across Sahel and West Africa was amazing. Tuaregs in deep blue robes, Mauritanians, Nigerian women in colorful dresses. Don't see too much of that at EWR or LGA :)
How often do you hear a boarding call for Nouakchott?
Not sure how TAP feels about this. They've been funneling any TATL *A traffic to Morocco through LIS for the past few years.
If you want to visit Morocco and end up only seeing Casablanca I would be very disappointed, you really need to see Marrakesh and possible Fez too.
No, they are NOT a dry airline.
is this a dry airline?
I flew them from Casablancs to Frankfurt 2 years ago. I have flown more than 50 different airlines and this one is easily the worst (with Spirit coming in pretty close). Additionally, the check in experience in Morocco was one of the worst experiences of my life.
I've flown RAM from Casablanca to Rome a couple of weeks ago. Despite some "organisational" problems they may have (most commonly long delays), I found it to be an airline with excellent service. A fully renewed B738 and a full hot meal service for a 2 and half hour flight! Where else can we see that in Europe or US?
I have flown them a year ago in C on the JFK-CMN route and to be honest AI was at least 2x better. If you hated your RJ flight you will find them worse.
Yup, have flown them in early 2000, was an old and shabby 747.
Actually one of the pilots was a lady, which I thought was interesting for an Arab airline.
Anyways, nothing memorable from that flight, it was great.
Read it on airliners.net earlier today and, as a Star Alliance die-hard, I was thrilled. Someone on a.net said they now have a "full lock" on Africa and I totally agree with him.
South African, EgyptAir, Ethiopian and RAM are definitely the 4 strongest airlines in Africa with very extensive routes that just get you anywhere with convenient connections to many regions.
I can totally see a YYZ-CMN route in the works either by AC...
Read it on airliners.net earlier today and, as a Star Alliance die-hard, I was thrilled. Someone on a.net said they now have a "full lock" on Africa and I totally agree with him.
South African, EgyptAir, Ethiopian and RAM are definitely the 4 strongest airlines in Africa with very extensive routes that just get you anywhere with convenient connections to many regions.
I can totally see a YYZ-CMN route in the works either by AC or AT (RAM) and most definitely an upgauge in their FRA route.
Great news!