Royal Air Maroc

Is Royal Air Maroc safe?

Yes. Morocco's national airline has had no fatal accident and has not written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary an aircraft in more than 20 years. It is IOSA-registeredIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary, Morocco holds FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary, and no Moroccan airline is on the EU Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary. Its fleet of 69 aircraft is growing quickly with new Boeing 737-8s and 787s. The weak spot is on the ground: two runway incursions in 2023 and 2024 that could have ended badly. We score it 81.

What is in Royal Air Maroc's accident record?

The Aviation Safety Network data show no RAM hull lossHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary since 26 March 2003, when a Boeing 737-400 was damaged beyond repair landing at Oujda in eastern Morocco. Nobody died.

The last fatal crash was more than 30 years ago. On 21 August 1994, flight 630, an ATR 42 from Agadir to Casablanca, dived from about 16,000 feet into the Atlas Mountains, killing all 44 on board. Moroccan investigators concluded that the captain disconnected the autopilot and crashed the aircraft deliberately; the Moroccan pilots' union rejected that finding. Under our methodology a deliberate act by a crew member is not counted as an accident, though it is part of the history.

Within the last 20 years, a handful of accidents damaged aircraft without injuring anyone:

• New York JFK, 20 April 2009. A 767 landing in gusty wind came down hard on its nose gear after a full nose-down control input; the NTSB found the load exceeded the design limit.
• Amsterdam, 6 June 2010. A 737-400 hit geese on take-off and lost thrust on one engine. The Dutch Safety Board found the crew returned safely but departed from standard engine-failure procedures, including a steep turn at low height.
• Istanbul, 9 August 2018. A 787's wingtip struck the tail of a parked Turkish Airlines 777 while taxiing.

Further back, in January 1995, a RAM 747 started taxiing at Montreal Mirabel while de-icing vehicles were still around it and overturned two of them; three workers died. Canada's investigators cited missing de-icing procedures at the airline, among other factors.

The runway incursions

On 5 October 2023 at Marrakesh, a RAM 737-800 bound for Paris Orly was given its departure instructions while a Ryanair 737 was cleared to take off from the opposite end of the same runway. The Moroccan crew read the instructions back as a clearance to line up and take off, crossed the hold line and stopped at the edge of the runway. The Ryanair jet, already rolling, lifted off and passed over it at about 170 feet.

On 22 June 2024 at Casablanca, a RAM 737 that had just landed on runway 35L crossed the parallel runway 35R while a Lufthansa Cargo A321 freighter was accelerating for take-off. Morocco's BEA opened an investigation, joined by Germany's BFU; no report had been published by October 2026.

Runway incursions are rare at well-run airlines. Two in nine months, at two different airports, is the main reason incidents score 65. The other notable case is older: on 30 December 2016, a 737-800 diverted to Lyon after technical faults and descended below the safe altitude on approach. France's BEA rated it a serious incident and found two simultaneous system failures that the crew could not diagnose from the manuals.

What does Royal Air Maroc fly?

At the end of August 2026 the group had 69 aircraft, including RAM Express. 45 were Boeing narrowbodies, with 18 737-8s replacing older 737-800s, and 13 were 787 Dreamliners for long-haul routes to North and South America, Asia and the Gulf. RAM Express flies ATR 72-600 turboprops.

Under a July 2023 contract with the state, RAM plans to reach 200 aircraft by 2037. The big order is still being negotiated (Bloomberg reported up to 50 737s and about 20 787s, with deliveries from 2028), so for now the airline leases aircraft to grow. RAM does not publish an average fleet age.

How to fly Royal Air Maroc safely

• Check whether your domestic flight is RAM Express. Short hops to the north coast, such as Al Hoceima, use ATR turboprops. In July 2018 a RAM Express ATR touched the sea while descending below minimums in low cloud, then diverted to Nador; Morocco's BEA investigated.
• Allow time at Casablanca. Most connections go through Mohammed V, and long-haul flights can leave hours late after technical diversions, such as a 787 that spent 22 hours in Tunis in October 2025.

How we scored it

The accident record (92) is the strongest factor: no write-offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary or fatal accident in the last 20 years. Oversight (82) reflects IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary and FAA Category 1FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary. Incidents (65) carry the two runway incursions. Compare Kenya Airways at 69 and EgyptAir at 70, which both have a fatal crash inside the window.