The Minister of Transport and Logistics, Mohamed Abdeljalil, said Tuesday in Rabat that his department is working together with all the parties concerned by the “Marhaba” operation to ensure sufficient supply in terms of maritime, air and and international, in terms of the diversification of lines and the number of trips, by ensuring support for transport companies and granting them the necessary authorisations.
In his speech at the colloquium “Moroccans of the world: a collective mobilization to facilitate the transit operation”, organized by the House of Advisors, Mohamed Abdeljalil stressed that the ministry has been preparing for this operation since the beginning of the year, in coordination with all the organizations and institutions concerned, in particular the National Transit Committee, the Moroccan-Spanish Joint Transit Commission, the National Maritime Committee, the Moroccan-Spanish Joint Maritime Committee and the National Air Transport Facilitation Committee.
With regard to maritime transport, the Minister indicated that the maritime transport plan of the fleet approved by the “Marhaba 2022” operation provides for a series of measures aimed at ensuring the fluidity of traffic and improving the quality of services rendered. to Moroccans around the world, noting that a large number of ships have been mobilized on the maritime lines serving Moroccan, Spanish, French and Italian ports, with a total weekly capacity which amounts to round trip peak hours, to approximately 490,000 passengers, 135,000 cars and 560 weekly trips.
During the two peak periods, it is expected that the Tangier-Med-Algeciras main shipping line will provide 45 daily trips with a total capacity of more than 40,000 passengers and 10,000 cars, he said, adding that for the line serving the ports of Tanger-ville and Tarifa, four fast ships have been mobilized, which will organize about 24 daily trips with a capacity of more than 14,000 passengers and 2,500 cars.
As for the medium-haul lines, Mr. Abdeljalil mentioned four ships which will be operated on the Nador-Almeria line, at the rate of 48 trips per week, for some 67,000 passengers and 16,000 cars. At the maritime line serving Nador-Motril and Al Hoceima-Motril, a ship with a capacity of 10,000 passengers and 4,000 cars has been reserved for this purpose with an average of 11 weekly trips.
Regarding long-haul lines, the minister said that 15 weekly trips will be provided by eight ships serving the port of Civitavecchia in Italy and Moroccan ports, with a capacity of 23,000 passengers and 8,000 cars per week.
He noted in this sense that the joint Moroccan-Spanish maritime commission ensures the examination and control of the vessels which will be used in the “Marhaba 2022” operation in order to ensure their compliance with the fleet plan in in terms of maritime safety and security, health safety and environmental protection provisions, and special equipment to meet the needs of passengers.
The Minister also recalled the parallel measures adopted by his department, which aim to bring together the best conditions to ensure the success of the operation, in particular the adoption of specifications which oblige the shipping companies to respect the conditions linked to safety and security, in addition to the development of reception areas for passengers or dedicated to carrying out administrative procedures.
Regarding air transport, he explained that the proposed offer is similar to that of 2019, despite the constraints resulting from two years of pandemic, pointing out that 48 air transport companies, including three national ones, have been authorized to organize 1,660 weekly flights on average, spread over 115 airports in 46 countries on four continents, Europe being the main destination with 1,420 weekly flights, or 85% of total traffic.
The countries hosting the largest number of Moroccans in the world are the first destination in terms of air connectivity with airports, he said, reporting 545 weekly flights at French airports serving Moroccan airports, followed by Spanish airports with 272 flights, then Italian airports with 123, and Belgian airports with 115 weekly flights.
In this context, the Minister affirmed that the national company Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has decided to adopt a special program for the summer period aimed at improving its offer to meet the high demand during this period, by increasing the number of flights on popular airlines during the summer holidays.
He noted that the Ministry’s services intend to strengthen coordination between airports and airlines, particularly in terms of information exchange in order to anticipate aspects related to the management of peak periods, noting that the National Office of Airports (ONDA) mobilizes, in this regard, human and logistical resources in the various airports of the Kingdom, in coordination with the rest of the partners, to ensure the best conditions for the success of Marhaba 2022.
Dwelling on international road transport via buses, the government official affirmed that the supervisory ministry is keen to ensure sufficient supply in this area, noting that there are currently 73 international transport companies, which will operate 76 transport lines. international passenger service, providing 670 trips for some 33,500 seats per week.
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