Morocco's $4.3bn Hub Capital

Office National des Aéroports (ONDA) director, Adel El Fakir detailed the future strategy and challenges underlying the airport development plan for 2025-2030 last February.

In line with decisions taken by the council of ministers in December 2024, this ambitious roadmap aims at supporting the country's development dynamics. It will also enable the aviation sector and its ecosystem to face major challenges: the surge in air traffic (+21 per cent in 2024 compared with 2023), the development plan of Royal Air Maroc (from 50 to 200 aircraft by 2037) and the FIFA World Cup hosted by Morocco in 2030.

All parties concerned are working with the same vision: transforming Moroccan airports into strategic, connected and attractive hubs to meet the country's economic and tourist aspirations.

The capacity of Casablanca’s Mohammed V Airport, which is at the heart of this transformation, will be increased from 14 to 35 million passengers by 2029, thus establishing itself as an intercontinental hub connecting Africa, Europe, Asia and America. The airport will also have a new control tower, a new runway and enhanced intermodal passenger transport.

Other airports, notably Marrakech, Agadir, Tangier and Fez, will also undergo major expansion work to double their capacity and respond to the strong growth in air traffic.

‘Airports 2030’ also focuses on a seamless customer experience through cutting-edge technological solutions, on capacity building and good governance to meet international requirements and standards.

“From sky management to the expansion of our airport platforms, from the tarmac to baggage handling on arrival or departure, from check-in to boarding, the customer journey will experience a transformation that is already under way, digital but also human”, underlined Adel El Fakir.

The Moroccan aerospace industry has recorded a remarkable 14.9 per cent rise in 2024. This growth was driven by the very good performance of the assembly segment, with a 23.6 per cent increase in sales.