Travellers from France will have more direct flights to Moroccan cities this winter as airlines add routes and increase the number of seats between the two countries. The National Tourist Office (ONMT) and the National Airports Authority (ONDA) are using the IFTM Top Resa travel show in Paris to promote the new connections and attract more visitors from France.
Airlines are expected to offer 6.36m seats between France and Morocco in 2026, up 7% from 2025. That adds about 427,000 seats.
Paris still accounts for more than half of the available seats. Capacity from the French capital is up 8% this year.
Regional French airports are seeing bigger increases. Lille has 33% more seats, Rennes 22%, Lyon and Toulouse 16% each, and Nantes 9%.
The winter 2026-27 schedule will add or expand several routes.
Casablanca will have flights from Bastia and Lille. Marrakech will be connected to Strasbourg and Lille. Agadir will have a new link with Bordeaux.
Transavia France will connect Nantes with Essaouira and Tangier. Ryanair and Royal Air Maroc will operate flights between Paris and Tétouan. Fès will get more links with Lyon, while Oujda will be connected with Paris by TUI Fly Belgium and Transavia France.
The plan gives travellers more options to reach cities outside the main tourist centres.
Essaouira and Dakhla are also being promoted at the Paris trade show. Essaouira is being marketed for its beaches, culture and music scene. Dakhla is being promoted for water sports and business events.
The Moroccan stand at the show covers 424 sq metres and includes 38 companies and tourism organisations. Royal Air Maroc and Air Arabia Maroc are among the exhibitors.
The extra flights come as the country prepares for more tourists over the next few years.
ONDA plans to spend about $4bn on airport projects by 2030. A new terminal at Casablanca Mohammed V airport will help raise its capacity to 30m passengers a year.
Marrakech Menara airport is also being expanded, with annual capacity set to rise from 9m to 12m passengers. Airports in Agadir and Rabat are planned to reach capacity of 6m passengers each.
Dakhla airport will receive runway and terminal upgrades to support longer direct flights from western Europe.
Royal Air Maroc is also expanding its fleet. The airline plans to grow from about 50 aircraft today to 200 by 2037. The expansion will support new routes to Africa and the Americas as well as flights between foreign cities and regional airports in Morocco.
The tourism plan for 2023-26 targets 17.5m visitors by 2026. A longer-term target of 26m visitors has been set for 2030, when the country will co-host the Fifa World Cup with Spain and Portugal.
Rail links are also being expanded. The Al Boraq high-speed train network is being extended towards Marrakech and Agadir, giving international visitors another way to travel after arriving by air.
The tourism sector is also working on environmental standards. A new hotel certification programme aims to increase the number of eco-certified hotels in destinations such as Essaouira and Dakhla.
