Welcome to my part 3 of my flying adventure with Royal Air Maroc!
My ride: CN-RGG
Photo: Diego Rui de Vargas - Iberian Spotters
Introduction
For the flight back to London, I decided on the Boeing 737-800 flight to Casablanca where we change for the connecting flight to London, I had a choice between Gatwick or Heathrow. I decided on Heathrow as it was not only cheaper, the flight was operated by the Boeing 737 MAX 8 which offers a newer cabin product.
Our flight departure was around 0930 hrs to Casablanca and we would have around 3 hours in transit before our connecting flight to London Heathrow. This would means we had time for brunch in between. We wanted to have breakfast at Marrakesh Airport but because I thought there were cafes inside the airside area, we discovered there wasn't any, so we had to settle for our meals at Casablanca airport instead so for those departing out of Marrakesh, do grab your meal at the landside first before heading over to the airside for your domestic departure.
Without further ado, let's begin this trip report!
Some photos of our time at Marrakesh!
You need to visit the souk!
The market is lively and sells a good variety of local products.
It was a nice walking along the streets, taking in whatever that came along our way.
A shadow of my mum and myself in this beautiful weather at Marrakesh.
A typical street of Marrakesh
I recommend this restaurant, Marrak. The food quality is top notch!
This is what we had for lunch!
This is the street outside of the restaurant.
This "Red city" is unique because most of the buildings consist of a shade of red orche, salmon pink and terracotta. This is made mandatory by the city regulation to match the oxide-rich clay used in construction. These colours have been used in many centuries and in my opinion, it blends in very well to the environment.
We walked to the Menara Mall. However the mall was closed for Ramada - break fast time but it would reopen later that evening, however we decided to settle dinner at one of the restaurants outside the mall.
This is one of the shophouses.
Night time in Marrakesh.
On the day of departure
We left the hotel around 0630 and hailed an Uber ride to the airport.
The beautifully curved structured canopy greeted us once we alighted from our ride.
You can tell that the airport design is inspired by the Islamic principles.
Welcome to Marrakesh Menara Airport!
Before we have a look inside, let me give you a brief information of this airport.
About this airport
This airport has 2 passengers terminals housed in a large building with numerous modernizations to this airport was done which include a new terminal in 2005. The second terminal was added in 2016 to increase capacity. This airport serves Marrakesh and is home to Royal Air Maroc and Royal Air Maroc express. With a single runway in action (runway 10/28), this airport also play hosts to Easyjet, Ryanair and Tui Airlines which fly to many tourist destinations including this airport. Marrakesh is one of the most popular tourists destinations in Africa and it is not a surprise to see a lot of European airlines especially the low cost carriers operate to this airport.
Map of this airport
(Photo: Airportmaps.com)
Entrance to terminal 1
The departure hall (landside)
Most of the flight departures were dominated by low cost carriers.
The check-in desks for RAM is located at the far end of the terminal.
I did the online web check-in the previous day, I couldn't check in for my mum but I had no issue. I hope to solve the issue by using this self check-in kiosk but to no avail, as a result, we had no choice but to join the long queue at the airline's check-in counters.
Look at how long the queue is!
Thanks to my mum's eagle sharp eyes, we managed to find a shorter queue not long after.
The problem with my mum's inability to do the web check-in was solved and the grouchy staff managed to check both of us in and had our seat assignments sorted out too, luckily we got ourselves the window and middle seat, I won't want to miss out on the scenic view.
Once that's done, we headed towards the domestic departure security check screening to access the airside.
In hindsight, we could have stopped by one of the cafes over here to grab some bite.
Check-in counters for Easyjet passengers.
Our flight was departing as schedule.
This way to the airside of the domestic departure.
Once at the airside, this is what we have over there. Vending machines for snack and a selection of hot beverages.
The seating area at the airside departure hall.
That's how small the departure area is at the airside of the domestic departure.
I picked up a couple of hot beverages for both my mum and myself.
We were glad to be on our way.
This way to our bus.
Before that, we had to join a long queue.
It took about 10 minutes to clear.
Was this our ride to our aircraft?
The luggages being transported to the aircraft.
Nope, we didn't take the bus. We waited at the pedestrian's crossing and waited for clearance to walk to our aircraft.
While waiting, I spotted some interesting traffic.
This is Transavia Boeing 737-800.
A group of passengers making their way to the aircraft while an Easyjet A320ceo aircraft passing by.
Ryanair's Boeing 737 MAX 8200
The 2 different generation of Boeing 737 (NG and MAX)
Our ride: CN-RGG
Transavia is currently in the process of retiring the fleet of Boeing 737 in favour of Airbus A320neo family.
This is a Spanish low cost carrier, Volotea Airbus A320ceo departing.
A look at the other side of the tarmac.
My ride: CN-RGG
Boeing 737-86N (Leased from Aircastle leasing company)
Configuration: C12 Y147
Engines: 2 X CFM56
Delivered in October 2011
3815th Boeing 737
Age: 14+ Years Old (May 2026 Update)
Built in Renton (RNT)
We walked towards our aircraft with a ground staff inspecting our tickets before we were given the clearance to head over.
Such a clean and beautiful livery, don't you agree?
The pilots covered the windows so that they can focus on setting up the FMC (Flight Management Control) and go through the before departure checklist prior for departure.
Route: RAK-CMN
Distance: 200km
Average Flight Time: 30 minutes
Airlines flying on this route: Royal Air Maroc and Royal Air Maroc Expresss
Photo: Greatcirclemap.com
Seat: 10A (Photo: Aerolopa.com)
Date of departure: 21st February 2026
Airline: Royal Air Maroc
Flight: AT402
Route: RAK-CMN
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Registration: CN-RGG
Seat: 10A
Gate: C2
Load: 100%
Flight Time: 30 minutes
Actual Flight Time: 27 minutes
Schedule Departure: 0935
Boarding the aircraft: 0900
Push Back: 0930
Take Off: 0940
Schedule Arrival: 1025
Actual Arrival: 1007
Departure Runway: 10
Departure Weather: Clear
Arrival Runway: 35L
Arrival Weather: Clear
My Experience
Boarding began at the waiting area without any announcement from the PA system but as soon as I saw a crowd of passengers gathering around the gate area, we made our way there and waited for a few minutes. Once we were ready, we were told to follow a staff who led us to the aircraft. We waited at the pedestrian crossing and at that point, I had a good time enjoying the apron view, doing a bit of planespotting. Once the ground traffic was cleared, we walked to our aircraft.
Our aircraft was newer than the 737-800 which flew us from LGW to CMN. This aircraft had the Boeing sky interior with slightly newer seats which are more comfortable in my opinion. We pushed back ahead of schedule and took off 10 minutes after.
Just like my previous flight on the ATR-72, there was no inflight service on this flight and my mum and I once again played our favourite card game and also enjoying the view. For the seat selection, I forgot to mention on my previous parts, the airline chose the seats for us and this time we scored a good set of seats, sitting slightly in front of the engine. Weather was on our side again and we get to enjoy such beautiful view of the country. The ride this time matches my shortest flight record - Wingo's Boeing 737-800 ride from Medellin to Bogota (Colombian's domestic flight) at 27 minutes of flying time but the distance of Marrakesh to Casablanca is shorter by 16 km compared to Medellin to Bogata (217km).
We landed ahead of schedule and for us, we had about 3 hours plus to spend at this airport before connecting to our next flight. During our time at the arrival, there was a long queue for us to wait to clear the security to connect to the airside and there was an incident with a young lad lecturing my mum about cutting queue which she was not as it was everyone for themselves, no airport staff came about to help organise the queue , I told him off and luckily for him, his father came and made peace. Later on, we realised there was no one going through the exit towards the landside and since we had no luggage check-in, we decided to head over there which made more sense for us.
Business Class
There are 12 seats in this cabin, configured in a 2-2 layout, with no IFE seatback, pretty much a basic business class recliner seat product.
These seats have a seat width of 21 inches, 36 inches of legroom space and can recline up to 3 inches.
The bulkhead row offers a good amount of legroom space.
The 3 rows of business class seats come with a partition wall and a curtain for use after take off and before landing for privacy for the business class passengers.
Economy Class
(I apologise for the lack of photos in this cabin.)
Overview of the cabin
Photo: RZ (Planespotters.net)
View from our seats
Like the previous 737-800 flight with this airline, the only source of entertainment comes from the drop-down screen from the overhead compartment. For this flight, it showed a short clip of a flim and the inflight map.
We were waiting for departure.
The seat legroom space was adequate.
The view of the front seat while in the air.
This mood lighting certainly enhances the cabin experience for the passengers.
No Meal Service
For our entertainment, we didn't bother much watching the programmes shown on the drop-down screen but at least there was the inflight map to look at. My mum and I enjoyed our 'Daidee' game and I can tell how good a player she is, the way she destroyed me, you would also be impressed!
Window view
This is my favourite window view photo! At this point, we started our push back.
Thanks for the memories, Marrakesh!
We had to taxi to the other end of the runway due to the wind direction.
For those aviation enthusiasts like myself, we won't mind living in one of the apartments as shown below.
Not long before we reached the end of the runway before making a u-turn and then take off.
This is the main reason why I prefer flying is you get to enjoy such beautiful view especially in good weather.
For pilot duties, some of the airlines require the pilots to do around 3-4 sectors a day and total flight time around 10 hours per day. So for such short sector like this, the pilots will definitely do a turn around and where do they fly to next? Only the airline operation management knows as they are in charge of assigning duties for both the aircraft and pilots.
Enjoying every minute of the beautiful view.
As we were flying with the tail wind behind us, our flight time is shorter compare to the other direction. (CMN to RAK)
We cruise for not more than 5 minutes before we started our descent.
This is the city of Settat.
We were preparing for arrival at this point.
Fortunately for us, we were sitting with the sunlight facing the other side of the aircraft.
We touched down smoothy onto runway 35L.
As the traffic was light, it took about 5 minutes to reach our assigned gate.
Passing by some remote parking lots.
The old and new livery of Royal Air Maroc.
Royal Air Maroc has certainly made its presence felt at this airport.
Almost there!
This is Royal Air Maroc's special livery, featuring the 60th anniversary. (CN-RGV)
We parked at a remote parking lot.
One last look of the apron before we disembarked.
My flight summary
Welcome back to Casablanca!
Thanks for the ride: CN-RGG!
It's not everytime at the airport you get to walk below the jet bridges!
This way to the airport bus.
Some of the widebody aircraft of Royal Air Maroc were resting and would depart later that day on the airline's long haul routes.
Another Royal Air Maroc Boeing 737-800 arrived after completing its domestic flight duty.
We had to get in fast before the group of passengers from the other flights join us.
This was the way out to the arrival hall. We decided not to join the queue for the international connection security check as we still had enough time to hang around at the land side.
Passing through the luggage carousel.
This is the arrival hall.
We walked down this way in search for a cafe.
This was our breakfast.
Flight Departure
To be continued!
My rating
Airline Website/Mobile App: 4/5
Airport Experience (Marrakesh Airport): 3/5
Inflight Service: 3/5
Seat Comfort: 3.5/5
Inflight Entertainment: 0/5
Cabin Ambiance: 4/5
Cabin Condition: 4.5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Inflight Meal/Beverage: 0/5
Punctuality: 5/5
Total Score: 32/50
Percentage: 64%
Conclusion
Our experience at both Marrakesh and Casablanca was certainly not the best especially at Marrakesh airport domestic departure which I hope the airport can provide more for the passengers at the domestic departure with restaurants and cafes available and as for Casablanca airport, for the arriving passengers connecting to international flights, please have airport staff around to handle the traffic and without them, there are likely to be grumpy passengers accusing each other for queue cutting due to impartience and that results to frustration and anger over such a trival matter. As for the flight itself, it was a short one with the crew just need to do a couple of check on us to make sure we follow the rules required for take off and landing, pretty light work load for them especially with no meal or beverage service provided on this flight. Once again like the previous flight, we were blessed with good weather and the advantage of flying instead of taking the train is enjoying the beautiful scenery of the land in clear blue skies with hardly any turbulence.
Overall, it was a pleasant flight and with one more flight to go, I would summerise my thoughts about this airline in my next trip report.
A preview to my next trip report
My last part of my Royal Air Maroc series: Our flight back to London, this time to London Heathrow on the airline's Boeing 737 MAX 8.
Coming up soon!
Thanks for reading and have a good one!
Charles Ryan
With that said, the journey continues - see you in my next blog post!
For the previous trip report (Part 2: RAM Express ATR-72-600 CMN-RAK flight, click here
For the hotel review at Marrakesh, click here
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