Passengers planning to fly from Israel to Marrakech in November are waiting to find out whether their flights will go ahead after two Israeli airlines suspended ticket sales following new security requirements. Arkia stopped selling tickets for its Tel Aviv-Marrakech route on Wednesday, 21 October, at the request of Israeli security services. The airline said it was discussing with the authorities how it could continue operating and what would happen to tickets already bought.
The move came eight days after rival airline Israir suspended ticket sales on 13 October. Israir also abandoned plans to increase its service to Marrakech from one flight a week to three in November and dropped plans to lease an additional aircraft.
Neither airline has announced the blanket cancellation of existing bookings.
Arkia resumed direct flights to Marrakech on 19 August, after nearly three years without operating the route. Before the latest suspension, it was running two return flights a week between Israel and Morocco.
The suspensions follow tighter security requirements introduced by Israeli authorities after an incident aboard a Flydubai flight on 30 September. The aircraft, travelling from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 182 passengers and crew on board, made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia after the co-pilot reportedly attacked the captain.
The new requirements reportedly focus on Israeli airlines that use aircraft leased from foreign companies along with their crews. This arrangement, known as a wet lease, allows an airline to rent an aircraft with its pilots and cabin crew rather than operating it entirely with its own staff.
The changes have raised questions about whether foreign crews can meet Israeli security requirements.
Figures provided in the report show that about seven in 10 of Arkia’s flights used wet-leased aircraft in July. The proportion for Israir was just over half, at 56%.
Arkia is exploring whether commercial partners could continue operating flights to Marrakech if Israeli authorities require it to stop running the route itself. The airline has said it will update passengers as the security authorities reach decisions.
Meanwhile, El Al’s subsidiary, Sun d’Or, is scheduled to begin operating two weekly flights to Marrakech on 16 November. Its plans have not been publicly changed, according to the information available.
If Sun d’Or launches the service as planned, it could become the only Israeli carrier operating direct flights to Marrakech while Arkia and Israir deal with the new security requirements.
The suspensions come just weeks after three Israeli airlines were preparing to expand direct services to Morocco. Air travel between the two countries has faced disruption since the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza in October 2023.
