Whilst some airlines have been focusing on joint business venture agreements, others such as Royal Air Maroc are focusing on alliance ties.
The airline will formally join the oneworld alliance on 1st April 2020. In doing so, it will be the first full member of oneworld in the African continent.
Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787 – Image, oneworld/Royal Air Maroc
It’s been about 12 months since Royal Air Maroc started its implementation to become a oneworld member.
Both the main airline (Royal Air Maroc) and its regional subsidiary (Royal Air Maroc Express) will become members of the alliance
Royal Air Maroc will add 39 new destinations in 23 countries to the oneworld network, The airline connects its base in Casablanca with over 100 destinations in more than 50 countries over six regions – Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, North America and South America. These include oneworld hubs at Amman, Doha, London Heathrow, Madrid, Miami, Moscow Domodedovo and New York John F Kennedy.
Loyalty and Frequent Flyers
For Frequent Flyers, its time for new lounges to explore and new benefits to share.
Safar Flyer Members will benefit, being able to earn and redeem rewards across the oneworld network. Similarly, oneworld members should be able to
For Safar Elite members, it’s going to get more fun. Currently, there are three tiers in the Royal Air Maroc loyalty programme – Blue, Silver and Gold. The airline is planning to introduce a Platinum Tier which will confer oneworld Emerald.
Meanwhile, the Gold Tier will confer oneworld Sapphire status, whilst the Silver tier will get oneworld Ruby.
Round the World Travellers will be able to use Royal Air Maroc in the oneworld explorer pass/oneworld Global Explorer fare too from the 1st April.
Current partnerships
Royal Air Maroc has been making friends with members of the oneworld family already, and currently codeshares with American Airlines, Iberia, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian and S7 Airlines.
The Safar Frequent flyer programme also has links with Iberia, Qatar Airlines and Etihad Airways.
Expect some changes ahead upon the entry of the airline into oneworld, with additional codeshares being agreed.
Fleet
Royal Air Maroc’s is made up 60 aircraft, operating with the Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800 and Embraer 190s on short to medium-haul routes, with Boeing 767-300ER, Boeing 787-8, and Boeing 787-9 flying long-haul services.
Its regional affiliate Royal Air Maroc Express operates six ATR 72-600 aircraft.
In quotes
Rob Gurney, CEO of oneworld said
“We are honoured and delighted to welcome Royal Air Maroc into the alliance, adding our first full member in the fast-growing African continent. The quality service and global network offered by Royal Air Maroc will position oneworld as the preferred alliance in Africa, where Casablanca is a leading global financial centre,”
“We want to thank the team at Royal Air Maroc for all their hard work in the past year to prepare for its historic entrance into oneworld, and look forward to celebrating with them in Marrakesh in March.”
Abdelhamid Addou, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Air Maroc.
“We are proud and excited to become the wings of oneworld in Africa and we are looking forward to a very successful cooperation that benefits our mutual clients. While the average duration of the integration process varies between 18 and 20 months, it would take us just 15 months, between the invitation and the official integration, to become a full member of the prestigious oneworld Alliance. This is mainly due to the fact that our systems were at a higher level, which facilitated their alignment with those of the Alliance; and also thanks to the great efforts of our teams, who were motivated to lead successfully this grandiose project for Royal Air Maroc and the Kingdom,”
Alliances still matter
Whilst some airlines are choosing to deepen ties using Joint Venture Business Agreements, Alliances still offers a way to create easier business partnerships – and in some ways – get a feeling for another airlines services and offerings.
And in doing so, how to compliment or counter the offering.
With new destinations on the map to explore, its a welcome addition to oneworld who last admitted a full member into the alliance in 2014.
It’ll be interesting to see where oneworld goes from here – both in its connect model and full membership. With LATAM set to exit, there are still plenty of network holes to fill in the world.
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