Air traffic in the Kingdom is picking up again during this year 2022, which is about to end under very good auspices, thanks in particular to the easing of travel restrictions and the resumption of tourist activities, after two years of health crisis.
The sector managed to initiate a significant recovery. Supporting evidence, the recent figures released by the National Airports Office (ONDA) which show 16,546,802 passengers welcomed in all the country’s airports during the first ten months of this year, i.e. a rate of 79% recovery compared to the same period in 2019.
Recovery is still on course and recording progress compared to the same period of 2019, welcoming 79% of passengers and 81% of airport movements, i.e. 16,546,802 passengers and 142,284 airport movements respectively for all airports between January and October 2022.
The year 2022 will thus end on a high note for a sector which has suffered for a long time, as evidenced by the air traffic recorded during the month of October alone, when the airports recorded a volume of commercial traffic of 2,191,055 passengers and of 16,845 airport movements.
This recorded volume now represents recovery rates, respectively, of 101% and 94% compared to the same period of the year 2019.
By geographical distribution, Casablanca Mohammed V airport welcomed 759,360 passengers during the month of October through 6,084 flights, representing 90% of passenger air traffic and 80% of airport movements recorded during the month of October 2019.
Indeed, the largest port platform in the Kingdom is on the way to a confirmed recovery, given that the cumulative traffic since the beginning of 2022 stands at 6,176,926 passengers via 54,714 flights, i.e. a rate recovery of around 71% for each of the segments compared to the same period of 2019.
Same story for the other airports in the country, since the ONDA specifies that during the month of October 2022, several airports reached, or even exceeded, the volume of air passenger traffic recorded during the same period of 2019, noting that the recovery is consolidated during the first ten months for several airports.
These include the North and Oriental airports which recorded recovery rates greater than or equal to 100% compared to the same period of 2019, Tetouan 398%, Oujda 120%, Nador 110%, Tangier 104 %, and that of Guelmim which recorded a recovery rate of around 140% of the passenger traffic recorded during the same period of 2019.
Internationally, air traffic has gained altitude, recording since the beginning of 2022 a total of 14,790,085 passengers welcomed at the Kingdom’s airports, i.e. a recovery rate of 80% compared to the same period of 2019.
For their part, the markets of Europe, the Middle and Far East, North America and Africa recorded recovery rates above 100% in October, and for Europe, which represents more than 84% of international air traffic, it recorded a recovery rate of 107% compared to October 2019.
Air transport has indeed successfully taken off this year and reached pre-pandemic levels, thus confirming its recovery and paving the way for better prospects for the coming year.