Moroccans wonder about the fate of their tickets if Ryanair refuses to sell in dirhams
A number of Moroccans were reassured by the decision to grant a license to the low-cost airline Ryanair to operate part of the domestic routes, while the Irish company actually began operating in Moroccan airspace by organizing several domestic flights between Moroccan cities at attractive prices.
At the beginning of April, Ryanair’s first local flights took off, with the company’s planes filled with Moroccan customers traveling between Agadir, Errachidia, Tangier, Fez and other cities that were connected by air.
However, what has upset many Moroccans is the method of payment for purchasing tickets, with the aforementioned company imposing payment in foreign currency, thus forcing customers to use the limited allocation granted to them annually for make a payment.
Many customers considered this payment method as a maneuver on the part of the company which operates in the Moroccan market and requires payment in foreign currency. This is where the Moroccan authorities, through the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, intervened.
The Ministry of Transport and Logistics decided two days ago to authorize Ryanair to operate its domestic flights exceptionally for a month while waiting for the company to comply with its commitments, after finding that tickets were only available for purchases via international Moroccan bank cards in foreign currencies.
The ministry specified that the authorization for the domestic air connection was issued to the company concerned under the express condition that the sale of tickets be available in dirhams, a condition accepted and confirmed by a letter from the airline dated November 29, 2023.
After noting that the tickets were only available for purchase via international Moroccan bank cards in foreign currencies, the ministry reminded the company of its commitments on March 29, 2024 and ordered it to comply within one month from Sunday March 31.
Many customers then ask themselves the following question: what will happen if the company refuses the decision of the Moroccan authorities? In this case, it is certain that its domestic transport license will be revoked, which will place the thousands of customers who have already booked flights for after the end of April, especially during the summer, in a precarious situation after having spent large sums of money. Additionally, tickets for every month of 2024 are still on sale on the company’s website.
