A terrible earthquake struck Marrakech on the night of Friday 8 to Saturday 9 September. The latest estimates put the death toll at 2,862 and the number of injured at 2,500. Unfortunately, this figure has to be regularly revised upwards as the streets are cleared.
The consequences are still difficult to assess until an assessment can be made on Saturday morning. Chaos descended on the city, with many homes - including hotels and monuments - affected..
While the terrible human and economic consequences for the city and surrounding area are to be feared, air transport is operating normally for the time being. The airport remains open and the majority of scheduled flights take off or land there. However, some flights are cancelled or slightly delayed.
A major destination for air travel from French-speaking Europe
Marrakech is one of the most popular destinations in the Moroccoparticularly from France. During the summer season, 8 airlines connect 17 French airports the capital of tourism in Morocco. Marrakech is also linked to Switzerland (Basel/Mulhouse and Geneva) and Belgium (Brussels and Charleroi)..
The main air route to French-speaking Europe is Paris Orly-Marrakech, with 49 weekly flights. operated by Royal Air Maroc, Transavia, TUI Air Belgium and Vueling. From Paris CDG, Air France, Easyjet and Royal Air Maroc offer 34 routes a week. Nantes is the region's best-served city, with 17 weekly flights. It is followed by Marseille (13 flights/week), Bordeaux, Lyon and Toulouse (12 flights/week from each of these airports). Other French destinations with flights to Marrakech are Beauvais, Dôle, Lille, Limoges, Montpellier, Nice, Nîmes, Perpignan, Tours and Vatry.
From Switzerland, Geneva-Marrakech offers two daily flights. Basel-Mulhouse has 4 weekly frequencies. And there are 9 weekly frequencies between the Moroccan city and Brussels Zaventem.
According to the Flightradar24 website which refers all aircraft movements worldwide, flights departing from Marrakech were indeed taking place. At 11.00am, the website announced the on-time arrival of Ryanair flights from London Stansted and Manchester. A delay was announced for the arrival of the Transavia flight from Nantes. Transavia's Marrakech-Orly flight, on the other hand, took off on time, while a Royal Air Maroc flight to Naples was announced.
(Information at 11.15am on 12 September 2023)
