Moroccans of North America Abandoned in Struggle with Royal Air Maroc

Washington DC - Moroccans of North America love to hate “Royal Air Maroc”. RAM is Morocco’s national carrier that doesn’t serve “Morocco’s national interests”. The airline has been the Moroccan community’s nightmare in terms of pricing. If the quality of its services onboard varies, RAM ticket prices have been consistently high.

Immigrants and potential tourists have been sounding the alarm about the negative economic pitfalls of high prices, but the Moroccan authorities seem uncaring and irritated with this subject. For now, RAM continues to drain the pockets of thousands of hard working Moroccans in the USA and Canada.

Adding insult to injury, Turkish Airline was running a special from the East Coast of the U.S. to Istanbul for $699.00, round trip with all taxes included, at a time when Moroccans were shopping for a Thousand dollar tickets to Casablanca to celebrate Eid El-kebir (Muslim Holiday) with the family. While Turkish Americans went to their country to celebrate a happy Eid, Moroccans stayed behind cursing RAM.

The Moroccan community in North America is livid and frustrated with the Moroccan authorities’ indifference to their grievances about RAM prices. Going to the highest level of government, immigrant activists have raised the undesirable impacts of paying five to six thousand dollars a year for a family of five to visit their country of origin. Such financial blows are harder on the low skilled Moroccans residing abroad (Known as MRE). Unfortunately, officials in Rabat don’t care. MRE feel disrespected and ignored with no advocate fighting for their interests.

Rabat’s indifference and unresponsiveness to these specific concerns weaken MRE engagements toward their homeland. It makes a mockery of official speeches catering to the Moroccans of aboard. In fact, it shows that the Moroccan government wants MRE remittances without addressing the community’ worries.

Some immigrants’ experiences with RAM have been nothing but a nightmare. With high prices all seasons long and few alternatives, American and Canadian residents continue to bitterly fly the national airline.  While other carriers , like Turkish Airlines, offer specials to the homeland during the low season, the stubborn and arrogant Royal Air Maroc refuses to lower price despite being a government company that was bailed out with taxpayers’ money on several occasions.

Some in Morocco, including government officials and RAM officers, reason that immigrants in North America are living the American dream and shouldn’t complain about shelling out between $1100.00 and $ 1500.00 a ticket. Furthermore, they believe if customers are not happy with RAM then they should fly other airlines.

RAM has manipulated the prices and the schedules to drive companies like Lufthansa and Iberia out of serving Casablanca from the USA using European hubs. Today, the Moroccan airline and, its “partner in crime” Air France, are shamelessly and openly abusing the Moroccan fliers.

MRE work hard for their money and send billions of dollars to their families sustaining the local economy and keeping ungrateful RAM and its personnel employed. If MRE had a choice, they would have deserted RAM and its pitiful services a long time ago.

Moroccans of the United States and Canada are not beggars asking for a handout. They are within their rights to ask for a reasonable pricing system so their loved ones can visit the old country without declaring bankruptcy.