THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Royal Air Maroc will join oneworld (marketed simply as ‘oneworld’), becoming the 14th member of the airline alliance and the first in Africa.
Royal Air Maroc (RAM) is set to become part of oneworld alliance in mid-2020, it has been announced by the alliance’s governing board.
Oneworld, headquartered in Ney York, is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. Its member airlines include American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, SriLankan Airlines, Japan Airlines, LATAM Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines plus some 30 affiliated airlines.
RAM is Morocco’s national carrier and largest airline, flying 7.3 million passengers on a fleet of 55 aircraft. The Casablanca-based airline flies to 94 destinations and 49 countries in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North and South America.
Qantas CEO and oneworld chairman Alan Joyce welcomed the airline to oneworld, saying “Africa is the last major region where oneworld does not have a full member airline, and it has one of the fastest predicted air travel growth rates over the next few decades. Royal Air Maroc will deliver greater value for more customers worldwide as we expand our alliance network to a new region.”
RAM’s chief executive Abdelhamid Addou said RAM is excited to become oneworld’s wings of Africa. “We look forward to completing our flight on board speedily and smoothly so that we can offer the services and benefits of the world’s best airline alliance to our customers and across our own network as soon as possible.
“This undoubtedly represents one of the most significant landmarks in our airline’s 60-year history and on our journey to establish Royal Air Maroc as the leading airline of Africa.”
Members of the alliance can book passengers on each others’ flights, among other benefits of operational synergy. As of October 2017, oneworld is the third-largest global alliance behind SkyTeam and Star Alliance.
Felix Dappah with agency report
