Royal & Regal? · ROYAL AIR MAROC Business Class 🇪🇬 Cairo to Marrakech via Casablanca 🇲🇦 Trans Africa
Today we are going to take a look at
what seems to be Africa’s most ambitious forward looking airline, by a long shot.
Welcome to Cairo, I arrived yesterday on an Egyptair flight from Kuwait and stayed at the
Le Meridien on site which again, I can’t praise highly enough. They have scheduled shuttles to
take you to terminal 2 and 1 which they’re not connected to. I inadvertently missed the shuttle
by like a minute. Next would be there in 10 minutes, no problem. They gave me a car instead.
Anyway, after this very quick ride we are here at Terminal 2 which was closed in 2010 for a 3 year
full renovation and when I tell you it is a much nicer experience than Egyptair’s terminal 3,
that is not an overstatement. Oh by the way, today we are flying Royal Air
Maroc to Marakech via Casablanca. Before we get into all of that though, let
me welcome any of you that might be new to the channel, my name is Kevin. I’m here to
give you a self-funded and honest look at some of the best- and some of the not so
best- airlines and hotels in the world, which I’ve been bringing to you full time for the
past four years. Check out my hundreds of videos, scan the QR code or click the link
in the description to learn more about the channel. This pleasantly
uncomfortable journey, begins now. Terminal 2 is a bit of an odd layout.
You get dropped off on the left, check in in what I assume is the newer part
of the building, and then go upstairs and head across the street to the terminal itself.
Kind of like the “terminal 2” in Hong Kong. Check in was very easy and quick with little
more than a couple of smiles and a ‘have a nice flight’. As we head to the departures hall, let
me just mention one odd quirk of security here. They stopped every male passenger and took
the heads of our razors. Not a huge problem, but not something I’ve seen before anywhere,
including here in Cairo on previous occasions. The departures hall has a few
lounges on offer- oddly enough there’s an Egyptair lounge which is
very unsure of it’s identity- odd since I thought all of their flights
were out of Terminal 3. Either way, we are heading to the very pleasant Ahlen Lounge
which was included with my business class ticket. It’s hard for me to look at this lounge and not
laugh just a little because it seems as if it’s in a different world from other’s I’ve visited
in Cairo. Whatever they’re doing in this lounge needs to be duplicated across the airport.
So, Royal Air Maroc is a government owned carrier which was first founded in
1953, beginning services in 1957. By the 60s they were a prominent regional
carrier connecting North and West Africa to France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
The biggest three changes in the airline over the years though were much more recent. First of
all was a big shift in their outlook in the early 2000s to try to create Casablanca as a transit hub
in addition to serving expat and tourism markets. In 2020 they joined the Oneworld
Alliance and honestly after that point is when things have really gotten interesting.
So, in 2030, the World Cup will be hosted jointly by Spain, Portugal and Morocco and in preparation
for that, the government is expanding the airport in Casablanca to a capacity of 35 million
passengers per year from it’s current 14 million. In 2023, the airline announced a wild expansion
plan to double the size of it’s fleet within 10 years. But then just five months after that,
they literally doubled down and announced they’d increase their fleet to 200 aircraft, from
it’s current 50 by 2037. So, needless to say, there is a lot of growth and change coming
for Royal Air Maroc and Morocco at large. These days, RAM has a northwest African and
Euro centric network with a few connections to the middle east, North America, Asia
and even Sao Paulo. As you’d imagine, they have a large presence in
France and francophone countries. Ok, let’s get on board. Boarding was a
bit haphazard, but at least was on time. I was greeted as I stepped on board and
settled into what turned out to be the most uncomfortable seat in this configuration
I’d ever been in. It reminded me of the First class seats on Eurostar. The upper part of
the seat back is angled so far back it’s just really uncomfortable. My notes were
“Supremely uncomfortable seat. Very short and shallow cushion and very intrusive
lumbar made the headrest too far away.” If you’re enjoying the video and would like to
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Besides the comfort, it is a pretty standard seat but lacks any sort of modern amenities such as
outlets, in flight entertainment and the like. This flight is a heck of a lot longer than I
would have guessed before I booked it. First, I think the span of North Africa is simply
much wider than we or at least I imagine. But then also the entirety of the flight
is over the Mediterranean in order to avoid Algerian airspace. In total, 5.5 hours.
Pre departure drinks- water or lemon juice- were passed around, the safety
briefing began and we got on our way. Passed by some very sad and dusty
Embraers on the way to the runway. Service sprung into action just
as we passed over Alexandria. Normally, I would show you the amenities and
comfort items now but, well, there were none. Oh wait, here is our ity bity little wet blanket?
Breakfast service was just about as dry as the human service.
The crew were simply stone faced for the entirety of the flight, quickly
getting through the service and then retreating for the rest of the flight. Not once did they pass
through to check for drinks later in the flight. For the food itself. THe breaks were okay,
the fruit was okay, but that omelette was the worst of why eggs on planes suck. My
best comparison is that it had the exact same texture of McDonald’s folded egg patties.
Bathrooms were clean on a basic level but were rarely checked by crew throughout the flight.
I’ll let you enjoy a bit of the incredible views on the way as we passed by Spain
and Gibraltar. The first scenes are from Palma de Mallorca and then soon after
of the Rock and Strait of Gibraltar. Once we were over the African
continent again, we were following the coast southwards and soon found
ourselves in our final descent. A gorgeous day here in Casablanca we
boarded a dedicated business class bus that took us to the international terminal. From there, I had a really long walk to make
my way over to the small domestic terminal. I was confused by the transit process here.
There were transit immigration desks but they weren’t staffed. I kinda just stood there for a
little bit, then tried to peek my head through. I saw a security guard and asked if I was meant to
pass and he said yes, he checked my boarding pass and allowed me into the Domestic terminal.
Something I’ve never seen before and for the life of me cannot understand, is our
wholly domestic flight from Casablanca to Marrakech- every passenger on it, whether
connecting or originating in Casablanca, needed to pass through immigration in Marrakech.
If anyone knows why this is, I’d be curious to know- especially since it was one of
the slowest immigration lines I’ve been in in quite a long time, considering all
domestic passengers were in it as well. Royal Air Maroc has a very small lounge here and
soon enough boarding was called for our flight. This would be on an ATR 72 turboprop which is
such a strange experience in business class. For ATRs you board in the back of the plane but
the business class seats are still the first couple or rows. Granted, they’re the exact same
seats, but there is a curtain and everything. ATRs are one of my least favorite aircraft
to fly because they’re never comfortable, but at least the flights are always short.
Bulkhead seats had decent legroom here though. In the air, we were given a few cookies and a soft
drink service, landing in Marrakech soon after. So, given the mediocre food,
mediocre service on the first flight- the second flight was fine and
the uncomfortable seat with no features, I can’t think of a reason to
rank them above a four for now. So, I really do hope you enjoyed this trip report
today, if you did, please be sure to click that like button and subscribe with notifications on so
you don’t miss out on my twice weekly videos. I’ll see you next time from the sublime Datai Langkawi.
Thanks as always for watching until the end.
Join me for this double trip report and flight review on Royal Air Maroc in Business Class from Cairo to Marrakech via Casablanca on RAM’s 737 and ATR72. They may have Royal in their name, but I’m not too sure if I got the royal treatment on board. Take a watch and see for yourself.
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Total Fare: $426.50 USD
Class: Business Class
Route: CAI-CMN-RAK
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🎶 Background Music in This Video
“Zariz” by Nadaz
“Rumba de Shapira” by Ofer Ronen
“Vem do Saara” by Joca Perpignan
↪ Video Chapters ↩
0:00 Heading to the Airport
00:35 Cairo Terminal 2 Check In
02:10 Departures & Ahlein Lounge
03:31 Our Aircraft & Gate
04:18 Boarding
05:10 Cabin & Seat Tour
06:45 Off We Go
10:26 Meal Service Begins
11:34 Gorgeous Sights in Flight
15:45 Transiting in Casablanca
16:39 Domestic Departures & Lounge
17:55 My Flight to Marrakech
21:45 The Flip Flop Score
This is NOT a promotional video. I pay for all of my flights and hotels (and I always tell you how much!) so I can be as honest and impartial as possible. I do not receive any special treatment that wouldn’t otherwise be publicly accessible, in fact, the hotels and airlines have no idea about my visit and that’s the way I like it!
#royalairmaroc #businessclass #tripreport
27 Comments
Do you review in this case 5 hours of flight footage before deciding on the clips to use for this video?
Marrakech looks wonderful. Will we be seeing a hotel review?
Well, you should try the business class on a long haul flight with the 787-9, it’s a completely different experience! But you should think at the same time that the business class on a 737 offered by royal air maroc is 100 time better than the business class on a short/medium haul flight offered by the European Carrier, they don’t even have a business class seat!
Totally agree about the lounges. I was in Cairo a couple of weeks ago and the EgyptAir lounges felt like a collection of 15 year old well used office furniture thrown into a room with a couple of portable appliances . It felt like it was put 5 minutes ago and could be on the back of a truck and gone 5 minutes later.
But wait… women get to keep their razors? Interesting…
Travel soooooooo overrated 😂😂😂😂
Always until the end, including the ads! Cheers Kevin!
Great choice for music– as always!
Loved the route choice. Service looks indeed somewhat underwhelming. I'm curious how the AT longhaul service on the 787 to the US, Canada and Brazil is in comparison
Royal Air Maroc going to buy 200 more jets? I think they've been smoking too much of the local stuff.
Was the pre-departure drink "lemon juice" or "Lemon mint" because the lemon mint on RAM is excellent!
Boring…………look at your competing guys!!!
16:50 I Have no idea. i woill have to ask next time.
Ranked the same level as Qantas. Oh the shame 😢
that egg omelet is huge, looks like 4 eggs? And its plain, I think McDonald's is better lol
15:30 A380 using boarding stairs at remote gate? 😧
Surprise they put business class on ATR, it's more design for full Econ, have the luggage in front for weight balance and board from the rear
17:06 to explain, basically you traveling from Cairo will go trough the real immigration in Marrakech because you transited in Casablanca. The passengers from Casablanca will go through immigration but they will simply check their id and boarding pass, they will not ask them questions or anything like that.
3:02 The current fleet of Royal Air Maroc consists of 53 aircraft ☺
at least both landings were perfect 😅
Pros: excellent views which were highlighted, rare city pair review of an airline not from the ME3! Cons: very annoying music and speeding up of take off and landing. Good job. “Stone faced crew” “eggs that suck” 😂
Good review and good company in Africa
how terrible is RAM! food is bad, worn out cabin etc. avoid it!
inequality in CAI airport 😮
My personal experience with RAM is a hit or miss, business class food was consistently good, the service comes always with an attitude and niceness doesn’t last the entire flight, it degrades with every mile flown 😅😅😅😅
In regards to why passengers in domestic flights undergo immigration in Marrakech.
It’s mainly a combination of the airport layouts, specifically smaller Moroccan airports (Marrakech, Agadir, Fes) not having separate facilities for domestic arrivals, so all passengers go through passport control and either get their passport checked based on where they came from (inside Morocco, or began their journey abroad and transited in CMN).
There is something somewhat similar the other way around where if your journey consist of domestic flight and then intl flight, you undergo exit check at the originating airport rather than the transit airport. (eg. From Marrakech to DXB via CMN, you undergo exit checks in Marrakech)
i agree with you my friend, la RAM is one of the worst airline company, bad food mad customer service
If you did not figure it out because of passengers like you that has connecting flight and did not go through immegration in Casablanca.
That phone ringing during takeoff made me reach for popcorn 🍿for this vid. 😂. They should've been given at least 🩴🩴🩴