Alliance can make a world of difference to RAM

With its 14 airlines, the Oneworld network serves around 1,000 destinations in more than 170 territories with hundreds of airport lounges.

As a new member of this global alliance – the first African member – RAM is eager to play a preeminent role in the region by expanding its network.

Coronavirus has held back many network opportunities in the last year or two, but RAM was in the starting blocks ready for the reopening of Morocco’s borders in early February. The national flag-carrier launched its campaign in Abidjan, targeting French-speaking countries, before moving on to Lagos to reach English-speaking nations.

“We are now engaged on the path to recovery and Africa is at the heart of our development strategy,” said RAM chairman and CEO, Habdelhamid Addou.

“We have decided to highlight the benefits and the multitude of global connection possibilities that our membership of Oneworld offers to our partners and customers.”

From its bases in the kingdom, RAM now has access to more than 1,000 connections worldwide. It will benefit from alliance hubs in Doha, London Heathrow, Madrid, Miami, Moscow Domodedovo, and New York-JFK alongside the Oneworld programme.

“We are in a new strategic paradigm,” underlined Addou. “This alliance will enable the growth of the African market.”

Today, the Oneworld network serves 170 countries around the world. Its airline members carried 580 million passengers in 2019. The alliance is enthusiastic about the partnership with RAM.

“Oneworld’s network has significantly strengthened in Africa, providing excellent connectivity to business and leisure destinations in the region,” said Rob Gurney, Oneworld CEO.

“As global travel resumes, RAM customers can look forward to more rewards and benefits when they fly with the airline and its Oneworld partners.”

This partnership opens new opportunities for RAM after a rather complicated period. The airline had to stop its Boston, Vienna, Athens, or Germany routes and downsize its fleet as part of a restructuring plan.

“Today we are the African airline which, through its very dense network, has the largest number of connections between Africa and Europe, and between Africa and North America,” said Addou.

He noted that air transport was rebuilding and that the summer season looked promising, which should bring RAM closer to its 2019 operations in terms of fleet and connectivity.

“We expect to be at our maximum capacity this summer with all 50 aircraft in our fleet – six ATR72-600s, four Embraer 190s, 28 B737-800s, two B737 MAX8s, five B787-8s, four B 787-9s, and one B767-300 freighter – and an additional charter service of five to ten aircraft,” explained Addou.

In 2019, RAM had transported 75 million passengers with a turnover of $2.6 billion. It now wants to focus on industrial cities, where there is more demand, and strengthen its presence particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (Abidjan and Bamako).

“We are bringing Africa to Oneworld, so it is very important to invest in the continent and for this alliance to have access to a promising territory,” he added.

RAM has kept two B737MAX aircraft in its fleet but the delivery of two others has been cancelled. The airline is now very satisfied with the operations of this aircraft.

Addou also revealed that the inaugural flight between Casablanca and Tel Aviv on March 14 was an historic moment for the airline. RAM and El Al, the Israeli flagship carrier, signed a codeshare agreement after the flight.

“There are nearly 1.5 million Israelis of Moroccan origin,” said Addou. These flights are an additional means to bring Moroccans closer to the world and their country.”

RAM expects turnover to return to a pre-Covid normal within two years.