The Mohamed V International Airport in Casablanca has been buzzing for the last few hours after the closure of more than two months due to Covid-19.
Many countries stopped their airline services due to the sudden rise of COVID-19 cases. Morocco was also among the countries that closed their airline services, and now they are reopening their airspace on February 7, Monday.
However, they opened their services, but they put some strict measures to curb the spread of the Coronavirus in the country, and at the same time, people get safe.
The conditions are all travellers must be vaccinated during their arrival. They are targeted to an antigenic test and “random” PCR tests taken out on groups of arrivals.
Those leaving the Moroccan region, in addition, to having their vaccination pass, must need to present their negative PCR test before boarding.
Beyond these precautions, the opening of airspace after a long period of closure due to COVID-19 has been considered as a sense of relief for passengers and the citizens of Morocco.
This will help the critical tourism sector, hardly dented by the continuing health crisis.
The flops over two years have led to 20 million more infrequent travellers and met with a loss of more than 8 billion dollars in foreign exchange income.
The government’s attempt to turn the tourism sector with a partnership with overseas tour operators and airlines and an overseas advertising campaign to encourage Morocco.
It has also announced to launch of a $190 million emergency plan for the airline sector.
Morocco’s tourism sector suffered a lot during the pandemic and following travel restrictions, with a 71 per cent fall in arrivals last year in 2021 compared to 2019 and bearing a loss of some eight billion euros.
Authorities have pledged to launch a ‘promotional campaign’ for “destination Morocco” and stated that they are working with airlines to re-launch the sector again.
Rabat has also circulated out a more than 180-million-euro campaign to support jobs and companies in the tourism sector, but many claimed that the funds are not enough.