Oneworld alliance has welcomed a new member into its ranks—Royal Air Maroc.
Airline alliances allow flyers to access more destinations as well as earn elite and redeemable miles by crediting them into one program within the alliance. Although the Moroccan national carrier has maintained codeshare agreements with oneworld members Iberia and Qatar Airways, RAM will become a fully-fledged partner of the entire alliance in 2020.
Royal Air Maroc serves 94 destinations from its hub at Mohammed V International Airport in Casablanca. Although not the largest fleet (55 aircraft), it covers quite a bit of Europe and western Africa. Oneworld currently doesn’t include a partner based on the African continent, and addition of Royal Air Maroc will expand the alliance’s reach in that part of the world.
Oneworld’s competitors Star Alliance and SkyTeam both have U.S.-Africa partnerships. United Airlines partners with Ethiopian Airlines, and Delta Air Lines partners with Kenya Airways. It’s about time American Airlines gained a partner on the world’s second largest continent.
Meanwhile, it’s possible that oneworld member Qatar Airways will leave the alliance over a dispute that involves American Airlines, but nothing is for certain yet.
RAM serves two U.S. destinations—New York City (JFK) and Washington (IAD)—and will begin operations to a third one—Miami—in April 2019. The city is a large American Airlines hub, which will provide RAM with a gateway to other U.S. cities as well as bring travelers from the United States to Morocco, a popular tourist destination.
[Image: Wikimedia/CN-RGA Royal Air Maroc]
