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Morocco’s national carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) will be suspending its Casablanca Nairobi route, starting from March this year. The information was made public, Wednesday March the 6th, by Kenyan media.
According to the largest newspapers in Kenya, Standard Media, RAM said in a statement that «the decision is informed by the need to reposition in view of the current air travel preferential trends derived from latest air travel market intelligence».
Quoting RAM’s airlines manager for Kenya Othman Baba, the newspaper wrote that the Moroccan airline is looking «forward to returning to the East African market».
The Moroccan firm promised to be back «in the fullness of time in a more vibrant and assertive manner once [its] reorganization program is fully in place», added Baba.
«At this juncture, we wish to register our outmost gratitude for the opportunity we have had to connect passengers from JKIA through Casablanca Hub over 90 destinations across the world», the same source stressed.
Profitability reasons
Contacted by Yabiladi on Thursday, a well-informed source from the Moroccan airline firm confirmed that flights to Nairobi (Kenya) will be suspended by «the end of March».
«The suspension and resumption of these lines is a very frequent and common decision among all airlines», said our source, stressing that «the suspension of flights to Nairobi was expected as the route was not really profitable».
«RAM has provided all the human and financial means to make it work. The company has been operating in this route for three years. Unfortunately, the results we got were disappointing and RAM is therefore obliged to stop the route».
Against all odds, the Moroccan airline is determined to «strengthen its presence in Africa», the same source said. Sources within RAM reported that the firm is «planning to reinforce its lines» in the continent. RAM will soon launch other routes, including a new one linking Casablanca to Nouakchott in June 2019.
Commenting on the Nairobi suspension, a well-informed source told Yabiladi that «East Africa is a competitive market for RAM». «The region is monopolized by other airline companies such as Ethiopian Air Lines and Kenya Airways, which are heavily backed by the Kenyan and Ethiopian governments», the same source explained.
The latter recalled that other major airline companies from the Gulf are operating in East Africa and are heavily present in Kenya.
