Qatar Airways seals partnership with Royal Air Maroc

Qatar Airways signed a joint venture agreement with Morocco’s flagship airline, Royal Air Maroc, as it builds connections to western and central Africa.

"This will be a joint business partnership between us and them," Akbar Al Baker, the chief executive of Qatar Airways, said at in Dubai.

"We will codeshare beyond points into Africa. Royal Maroc is a high-class carrier that has a large network in Africa this will give us a huge access into Africa, especially into western and central Africa," Mr Al Baker added.

Royal Maroc will begin operating three flights a week between Casablanca and Doha under the deal. Together, the two carriers will fly 10 times weekly on the route.

After losing nearly 1 billion Moroccan dirhams (Dh379.3 million) in fiscal 2010 and 2011 combined, Royal Air Maroc cut costs and recorded an operating profit of 718m dirhams in 2012 and 789m in 2013, according to figures from Capa, the Centre for Aviation.

"Royal Air Maroc has done a huge turnaround and that’s why we are partnering with Royal Air Maroc. We will only partner with airlines that are of a standard that is acceptable to Qatar Airways," said Mr Al Baker.Qatar Airways seals partnership with Royal Air Maroc