Royal Air Maroc Joins Oneworld Alliance as First Member on African Continent
by Barbara Peterson /
Moroccan flag carrier, Royal Air Maroc, is joining the Oneworld alliance, making it the 14th member and the first airline in Africa.
At a news conference in New York City, Oneworld officials said that the agreement with the carrier will be fully implemented by mid-2020, along with its regional subsidiary, Royal Air Maroc Express, which is joining as an affiliate member. Asked why it would take more than year to integrate, alliance officials said that the process involves coordinating a variety of services and benefits, ranging from interline agreements to partnering with the other airlines’ loyalty programs and airport lounge services.
Oneworld, founded nearly 20 years ago, is anchored by American Airlines and British Airways, which have their own joint venture, and over the years has achieved global coverage. Its members also include: Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia (which shares a corporate parent with British Airways), Japan Airlines, LATAM Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S1 Airlines and Sri Lankan Airlines.
Recently, Qatar Airways, signaled that it might quit the alliance, due to the ongoing war of words with American Airlines over alleged unfair subsidies to the Gulf carrier.
But, Oneworld officials told reporters that they were optimistic the conflict would die down.
While Southern Africa’s Comair, which flies as a franchisee of British Airways, has been a Oneworld affiliate member since the alliance launched in February 1999, Royal Air Maroc represents a significant expansion for the group. Based in Casablanca, the carrier serves 94 destinations in 49 countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America and South America. In the U.S., Royal Air Maroc serves New York and Washington, and is planning to add Miami in April 2019. The carrier is also embarking on an ambitious growth plan aimed at increasing annual passengers from the current 7.3 million to 13 million passengers, and adding about 25 cities to its route map.
In other news, the alliance said it has added Fiji Airways as its first member in a new membership category, Oneworld Connect, which includes some but not all of the features of full partnership.