"During the year 2021, which was marked by the persistence of the health crisis, the Kingdom's airports have experienced an improvement in air traffic compared to the year 2020, recording a volume of commercial passenger traffic of 9,938,607 passengers, of which more than a third recorded during the period from June 15 to August 31, against 7,155,091 passengers during the year 2020, an increase of about 38.9%. This traffic represents 40% of air traffic recorded in 2019," said ONDA in a statement.
During the summer season 2021, and with the resumption of international flights coinciding with the launch, under the auspices of the Mohammed V Foundation for Solidarity, of the "Marhaba 2021" operation, the international air traffic has recorded a good performance by hosting more than 3.56 million passengers through 31,255 flights during the period from June 15 to August 31, 2021, or an overall recovery rate of about 64.67% compared to the same period of 2019, said the same source.
With 4,150,015 passengers, the Mohammed V airport posted during 2021 an increase of 38.4% compared to 2020 and a decrease of 59.76% compared to 2019, ONDA said, adding that the airports of Tetouan, Guelmim, Dakhla, Nador and Tangier are the airports that have recorded the highest recovery rates compared to the traffic of 2019, respectively 153%, 87%, 76%, 75% and 64%.
Regarding domestic air traffic, with 1,582,220 passengers during 2021, it recorded an increase of 39.6% compared to 2020 and a regression of 47.37% compared to 2019.
Posting a rise of 38.77% compared to 2020 and a decrease of 62.13% compared to 2019, international air traffic has recorded 8,356,387 passengers. This traffic represents 84% of global air traffic.
Except for the Maghreb countries and South America, all other markets have seen an improvement over the traffic recorded in 2020. The best performances were achieved in the markets of North America, Europe and the Middle and Far East with respectively +82.38%, +42.53% and +33.58% compared to 2020.
During the year 2021, there were 104,036 airport movements, up 42.02% compared to the year 2020 and down 50.59% compared to 2019. The share of the Mohammed V airport is 43.34% of this traffic, Marrakech Menara (14.26%) and Tangier Ibn Battouta (9.54%).
The air cargo posted during 2021 an increase of 13.94% compared to 2020 and a decrease of 27.19% compared to 2019. It stood at 69,981.49 tons against 61,419.26 tons in 2020 and 96,120.76 in 2019.