The low-cost airline "Ryanair" inaugurated its new base on Tuesday evening at Marrakech-Menara International Airport, the first of its kind in Morocco, with the arrival of one of the company's aircraft from Italy with some 186 passengers on board.

This new base, which will be followed by another in Fes, is expected to operate with two aircraft that will connect the city of Marrakech to some 22 tourist destinations spread across 7 European markets, namely Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the Netherlands.

On this occasion, a large reception was organised in honour of the passengers on board the Ryan Air flight, with songs and rhythms from folk troupes, which reflect the richness and diversity of the national heritage.

Jonathan Brisy, Sales and Marketing Manager for Ryanair for France, Belgium, and Morocco, expressed the company's great joy at having a new base in Marrakech, noting that this structure is expected to help attract nearly one million tourists to the ochre city during the current year.

He continued that this choice is motivated by the fact that Marrakech-Menara airport is considered a strategic airport platform for the company, given the great tourist potential that the ochre city holds, a destination with great influence in Europe, particularly in France.

This new base will allow the company, which already provides connections from 8 airports in the Kingdom to European destinations, to develop new air routes from Marrakech to France and thus multiply the number of passengers wishing to discover the magic of the city of the seven saints, he noted.

The company will also provide flights to and from the airports of Essaouira and Rabat, which will increase the number of its routes in Morocco to 60 destinations during the current year, he specified.

For his part, the director of the Regional Tourism Council (CRT) of Marrakech, Abderrahim Bentbib, stated that this event is the culmination of joint work and the combined efforts of all parties concerned with the promotion of the tourism sector, namely the ONMT, the CRT, the ONDA, local authorities, and elected officials, stressing the need to continue this effort in order to boost the tourist destination of Marrakech.

Marrakech has experienced a certain imbalance between the development of its bed capacity and the promotion of its air links with European cities, which has resulted in a deficit of some 120 flights per week, knowing that the number of flights per week is currently 240 routes, he continued.

"Our ambition is that this number will reach some 500 air links per week in the next 3 to 4 years," he said, noting that the CRT aims to attract other low-cost airlines, which have experienced rapid growth over the last three years in the face of the decline in charter flights.

In this context, he insisted on the need to work towards restoring the balance between these types of flights, particularly in the face of the development of luxury tourism in the ochre city.

For her part, the director of Marrakech-Menara airport, Ms Nawal Mounir, observed that this initiative is part of the Kingdom's proactive policy aimed at developing the tourism sector and is the result of the combined efforts of the various stakeholders in the field of tourism as well as the incentive measures adopted by the ONDA for the benefit of airlines to encourage them to open new air routes or strengthen existing ones.

She noted that the ONDA has implemented an efficient system for monitoring the quality of services at the level of the various airport infrastructures, including a part reserved for the creation of this new base at Marrakech-Menara airport, which is experiencing the rhythms of a major expansion project to accommodate 9 million passengers by 2014 and to be able to attract more airlines.

The company Ryanair represents 19% of commercial transport movement and 16% of aircraft movement at Marrakech-Menara airport.