Friday, January 29, 2010

New airport for Fez



A new terminal with an annual capacity of 2.5 million additional passengers will be built at Fes-Sais airport, reports the director general of the National Airports Office (ONDA), Mr. Abdelhanine Benallou.


The new terminal (26,000 m2), which required an investment of Dh 620 million, and will bring the total annual capacity of Fez Sais airport to three million passengers, said the CEO of the ONDA, at a meeting this week in Fez. Construction will start in September and aims to support economic development in the region Fez-Boulemane , said M Benallou.

Attention to infrastructure development in the city is part of a proactive approach to structural development, based on an innovative marketing approach. The ONDA is in the midst of an aggressive growth period to attract international airlines, through the establishment of an attractive pricing policy.

"As a direct result of this stimulation at the Fes-Sais Airport, passenger traffic has seen an average annual growth average of 23 percent during the period 2004-2009," said M Benallou.

The Governor of Fez-Boulemane region, Mr. Mohamed Rherrabi, said that this project will allow regions of Fez , Taza-Al Hoceima-Taounate and Meknes Tafilalet to strengthen their competitiveness and economic development, especially when taking into consideration other projects already launched like the Fes-Oujda highway.

4 comments:

flousbzef said...

I read this article yesterday on MoroccoBoard.com.
This seems like alot of money, approx. €60m. I would have thought that a more economical option would have been available. I am not sure how the airports authority (ONDA) daily finances and funding this construction are linked, but I hope that by building this, that an increase the airport's charges, will not be sought as a result of this project.

The budget airlines in particular are very sensitive to the level of airport charges and often pull flights from places that increase them.

Piggy said...

Lets hope that this will entice the airlines from the UK once again. At present it is cheaper to fly to New York by BA or Virgin than to Fez by Royal Air Maroc. WHY?

flousbzef said...

To Piggy
= How will this entice airlines from the UK?
= As to why RAM are expensive, well...
http://www.moroccoboard.com/news/34-news-release/845-royal-air-morocco-denounces-unfair-competition-from-low-cost-airlines

Piggy said...

flousbzef
The article states that the intention is to attract more airlines to use Fez Airport by a competitive pricing structure. That will bring back to UK airlines.
As to Royal Air Maroc complaining about unfair competition thats BS. They need to get in on the act and learn to be competitive like the other airlines in the world are having to do.
By having no competition Royal Air Maroc have allowed themselves to become one of the worst airlines I have every travelled with. Competition would make them sit up and take note of what other airlines offer and what they charge