Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, is boosting its popular services to Morocco to meet increased demand to and from its two gateways in the North African kingdom.

Effective May 1, a three-class Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner will be introduced on the daily service from Abu Dhabi to Morocco’s commercial hub, Casablanca. The technologically advanced aircraft features eight private First Suites, 28 Business Studios and 199 Economy Smart Seats.

The introduction of the 787 Dreamliner will also see a scheduling change that will optimise timings for customers travelling to and from Casablanca. Etihad Airways will maintain an early morning arrival into Casablanca and operate a revised mid-morning return service that will improve connectivity to a wider network of destinations including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo. 

Etihad Airways’ Morocco services now enjoy a further boost with a third weekly service to the Moroccan capital, Rabat. The extra flight will operate on Saturdays until May 12, and also from June 30 to September 29 to meet peak summer demand, using a three-class Airbus A330-300. The extra flight has been added to provide more choice to the increasing number of point-to-point leisure and business travellers between the UAE and Morocco, reinforcing a long history of trade and cooperation between the two countries.

Etihad Airways has enjoyed a codeshare partnership with Royal Air Maroc since May 2007. Under the agreement, Etihad Airways places its ‘EY’ code on the Moroccan flag carrier’s services from Casablanca to Agadir, Marrakech and Tangier. Pending government approvals, Etihad Airways will also codeshare on Royal Air Maroc’s services from Casablanca to Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Conakry in Guinea, and Dakar in Senegal.

Royal Air Maroc codeshares on Etihad Airways flights to Morocco, placing its ‘AT’ code on Etihad services from Abu Dhabi to Casablanca and Rabat. - TradeArabia News Service