Air Lease Corporation, an aviation leasing enterprise headquartered in Los Angeles, has officially executed a long-term lease agreement valued at $300 million with Royal Air Maroc (RAM), the Moroccan airline. This accord is a component of the Moroccan carrier’s blueprint to incorporate as many as ten fresh aircraft within the ensuing couple of years.

In the prior month, RAM declared its intentions to prepare solicitations for procuring ten novel aircraft, encompassing seven slender-bodied and three ample-bodied variants. The full assemblage will be obtained via lease pacts that correspond to the corporation’s fiscal performance.

The accord with ALC comprises four freshly minted B737 MAX 8s and a solitary B737-800, slated for bestowal in 2024, originating from ALC’s Boeing order ledger. The American lessor has an existing affiliation with Royal Air Maroc, a connection poised to be reinforced by this newfound protracted arrangement. Steven F Udvar-Házy, the Chairman and top executive of Air Lease Corporation, expressed:

“ALC is pleased to announce this lease placement for five Boeing 737 aircraft with Royal Air Maroc. We look forward to building our long-term relationship with RAM as they continue to modernize their fleet and grow their network, as well as maximize their competitive advantage with the most fuel-efficient aircraft in the market.”

The Casablanca-grounded carrier has already entrenched itself as a prominent customer of Boeing, boasting a total of 42 Boeing slender-bodied and ample-bodied aircraft, which collectively formulate 72.4% of its airborne assets. This encompassment includes 28 B737-800s, five B787-8s, four B787-9s, and a duet of 737 MAXs. Among these, one of the 737-800s is subject to a lease from ALC, under a contract potentially valued at $17 million.

With slender-bodied planes embodying the preponderance of its aerial fleet, RAM is poised to foster its reach across the African and European sectors by assimilating the fresh 737s. In the course of August, it has dispatched its slender-bodied crafts to roughly 75% of its endpoints, effecting a sum of 2,490 flights from ten Moroccan aerodromes. Among its preeminent slender-bodied junctions are Paris Orly (ORY), Agadir (AGA), Abidjan (ABJ), Barcelona (BCN), and Tunis (TUN).

The North African airborne transportation domain has rebounded beyond the echelons observed before the pandemic struck in 2019. As a retort to the extraordinary yearning for air travel, RAM is entertaining notions of expansion and the provision of surplus capacity to both its regional and global itineraries.

During the prior month, the Moroccan government laid bare intentions to substantially augment the airborne armada of the national carrier by securing upwards of 150 freshly manufactured aircraft over the forthcoming fifteen years. This tactical maneuver encompasses the gradual phasing out of archaic models, serving to elevate the caliber of passenger experiences while concurrently diminishing the airline’s ecological footprint. The accord orchestrated with ALC will furnish robust underpinning to the ambitious blueprints for fleet expansion.

In a declaration issued by Air Lease Corporation, Abdelhamid Addou, the Chief Executive Officer of Royal Air Maroc, accentuated the significance of this concord:

“Through this agreement with esteemed partners as ALC, Royal Air Maroc will receive additional aircraft that will strengthen and modernize our operational fleet, enabling us to consistently enhance the quality of service for our customers while also reducing our carbon footprint in line with our environmental commitment.”

The infusion of more aircraft also lends support to RAM’s enduring ambitions of positioning Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport (CMN) as a principal hub on the African continent, a prospect that will engender a substantial increment in inbound air traffic. Hence, the Moroccan government has articulated an ambitious objective of enticing as many as 65 million tourists by the year 2027.