Israel-Morocco: Israir will start the first regular flights between the two countries next month
On 22 December 2020, Morocco and Israel officially normalised their diplomatic relations, signing four agreements, including a memorandum of understanding in the field of civil aviation. A month later, the two countries initialled an air services agreement, allowing the resumption of direct flights between their two territories.
On 19 July, Israir will open a route between Tel Aviv and Marrakech. From this date, the Israeli company will offer 5 weekly flights from the Israeli capital to the Moroccan tourist city. "We estimate that demand will be high and that hundreds of thousands of passengers from Israel will visit the destination as part of holiday packages or as part of organized trips," said Israir's vice president of marketing, Gil Stav, in a statement. The opening of the air corridor between Israel and Morocco will come six months after the signing (on January 21) of an air services agreement between the two countries. According to this agreement, flights from Israel could land in all international airports in Morocco. There are no limitations on the number of companies and passenger flights. On the other hand, the document provides for up to 10 cargo flights per week. This agreement is the fifth signed between the two countries in the space of a month. Indeed, on 22 December 2020, during the visit of an American-Israeli delegation to Rabat in Morocco, the two parties initialled four agreements, including a memorandum of understanding in the field of civil aviation.
These first agreements marked the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The rekindling of diplomatic ties between the two countries should further benefit the Moroccan tourism sector, whose revenues fell by 53.8% in 2020.Before the pandemic, between 50,000 and 70,000 Israeli tourists, mostly of Moroccan origin, visited the kingdom each year, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rabat. The company El Al has also expressed its intention to serve Morocco from next month.
