ONMT and United Airlines launch the first New York-Marrakech flight

The Moroccan National Tourism Office (ONMT) continues to implement the action plan “Light in action” with a major action: “the first flight of the direct line New York-Marrakech”, which just landed Friday morning on the tarmac of Marrakech-Menara Airport.

Operated by United Airlines, this airline represents the first point-to-point connection of an American company with Morocco and North Africa and after the signing in March 2024 of an agreement and an unprecedented history between the ONMT and United Airlines.

To celebrate the first flight of this new route, a large delegation from United Airlines, led by Patrick Quayle, the company’s Senior Vice President of Global Network and Alliances, made the trip.

She was welcomed at Marrakech-Menara airport by a high-level Moroccan delegation, made up of ONMT teams and tourism operators and professionals, by the president of the National Tourism Confederation (CNT), Hamid Bentahar above him.

Speaking on the occasion, the United States Ambassador to Morocco, Puneet Talwar, welcomed the establishment of this new air link, which marks a “new era” in relations between the United States and Morocco, emphasize that this service will “bring our people closer. together and strengthening cultural exchanges” between the two countries.

After emphasizing the strong ties of friendship between the two countries, Mr. Talwar pointed out that this new connection will allow Americans to immerse themselves in the richness of Moroccan heritage, and Moroccan travelers can now find their – out easily in New York and other American destinations.

“Our two countries share a common vision and values ​​by celebrating diversity and welcoming people from different backgrounds. This openness is one of the basic values ​​that strengthen our relations,” said the American diplomat.

“We are proud to see for the first time in North Africa an American company landing on Moroccan soil,” Mr. Bentahar rejoiced, describing the launch of this service as “a historic event. “

This new line will make it possible to strengthen the promotion of the destination of Morocco on the American market, which is very important because it is a great help and the customers are known for their long time, he explained.

The opening of this link therefore shows the strategy and the desire of the Kingdom “to change the measure to conquer the most distant markets”, continued the president of the CNT, emphasizing that “we are the hope to make this new line of United Airlines a reality. succeed to be an example for other companies.”

For her part, the director of the ONMT Office in New York, Ms. Siham Fettouhi, pointed out that this flight marks a “historic moment”, highlighting the importance of the American market, so the service went open this as a way to attract more. tourists and, therefore, let them discover the tourism potential of the City of Ocher and Morocco, in general.

Similarly, the vice president of the international network of United Airlines, Matt Stevens, explained that this direct line will allow Americans and the company’s customers to travel to Morocco with ease and discover “the rich cultural heritage of this beautiful country.

In addition to the United Airlines delegation, the flight included 35 travel consultants from the two largest American groups specializing in luxury travel, namely Signature Travel Network and Virtuoso, which has more than 32,000 travel agents.

The ONMT had signed strategic partnership agreements with these two major networks in June 2023 to strengthen Morocco’s destination in the American market. These travel advisors will therefore find the destination Marrakech but also Casablanca, Rabat, Essaouira and Agafay.

The historic New York-Marrakech route is operated with three weekly frequencies (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday), in a Boeing 767-300 with 167 seats configured with United Airlines award cabins: Polaris, Premium Plus and Premium business Economy.

By launching this new direct route in partnership with United Airlines, the ONMT is strengthening its strategy on the American market, with the ultimate goal of reaching one million American tourists. visits Morocco every year.

With MAP