MOROCCO – Emirates, the flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has announced that it will resume passenger services to Casablanca, Morocco.
The flights which will resume as from September 18 will bring the total number of routes that the airline currently operates in Africa to 14.
The resumption of flies to Casablanca, Morocco’s largest city, comes even as the airline safely and gradually restores its network on the continent and across the globe to meet the travel needs of its customers.
Emirates revealed that flights to Casablanca will operate three times a week on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Emirates flight EK751 will depart Dubai at 07:25, arriving in Casablanca at 12:45 while EK752 will depart Casablanca at 14:45, arriving in Dubai at 01:15 the next day.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Emirate had one of the most robust route networks of any airline not based in the continent.
The gulf airline was however forced to significantly scale back its operations in the continent as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic which took its toll on the aviation industry threatening to cripple all progress that had made in air travel.
Emirates also implemented widespread salary cuts in March after being forced to suspend all its flights due to the closure of international borders as part of measures to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) in a report on the aviation industry projected that 2020 global revenue losses for the passenger business will range between $63 and US$113 billion depending on the progression of the pandemic.
The impact of the pandemic has also affected African airlines, forcing many to adopt austerity measures including salary cuts and massive layoffs.
According to IATA, airlines from the African continent had so far incurred losses of up to US$4 billion as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has halted air traffic as at April with the losses projected to rise even further.
Ensuring the safety of travellers during the Corona virus period has become of utmost necessity to all airlines even as air travel gradually resumes.
COVID-19 PCR tests have so far been made mandatory for all inbound and transit passengers using air travel irrespective of the country they are coming from.
This is to ensure people boarding planes do not infect other passengers with the highly infectious disease.
Airlines have also been required to reduce the number of passengers that can board their planes during a single trip as part of measures to reduce the spread of the virus.
Liked this article? Subscribe to DealStreet Africa News, our regular email newsletter with the latest news, deals and insights from Africa’s business, economy and more. SUBSCRIBE HERE
