Coping with Surging Tourism: Marrakech Airport Struggles to Keep Pace

Tuesday 16 April 2024 - 10:50

In a dramatic twist, Marrakech, the renowned ochre city, is grappling with an unprecedented surge in tourist arrivals, putting immense pressure on Morocco's flagship tourism gateway, Marrakech-Menara Airport. Despite recent upgrades and extensions completed in 2020, boosting the airport's capacity to nine million passengers annually, it now finds itself overwhelmed by the influx of visitors this past weekend.

Plans to further expand the terminal, confirmed by Morocco's National Airports Office (ONDA), are yet to be realized, leaving the airport scrambling to manage the soaring demand. A proposal by Aziz Rebbah, the former Transport Minister from the Justice and Development Party (PJD), to construct a second airport in Marrakech was abandoned when its estimated cost of MAD 4.3 billion ($425 million) was revealed.

In response, ONDA has announced an interim solution to address the escalating flow of travelers. In August 2023, the office initiated a call for tenders for architectural studies and construction oversight aimed at extending the existing terminal facilities. This ambitious project, backed by a budget of MAD 850 million ($85 million), aims to enlarge the passenger terminal's surface area to approximately 120,000 square meters, reaffirming Marrakech's enduring appeal as a top-tier tourist destination.

The urgency of the situation is starkly illustrated by the staggering statistic that Marrakech Airport handled a remarkable 1.3 million passengers in just the first two months of 2024, signaling an imperative need for swift infrastructural enhancements.