Moroccans flying EA increase

Khalid Al-Haddad Casablanca - Nagwan Tijani Khalid Al-Haddad, Director of Emirates airlines in Morocco confirmed that despite the difficult economic crisis the aviation sector is witnessing, Morocco remains one of the markets that the company focuses on when it comes to their expansion strategy. He explained that the number of passengers who use Emirates airlines has grown by 4.2 percent over the past year, and he expected this growth to continue. Haddad said, in an interview with Arabstoday that the number of Moroccan passengers flying to India and the Far East is doubling every year. Did the economic crisis affect the sector in general, particularly in Morocco?   We prepared ourselves in Emirates with the best we can to deal with the challenges the aviation sector faces.   Despite the difficulty of the economic crisis on the aviation sector we focused on continuing our expansion plans, which were manifested in increasing the number of regular flights across our network. We added a large number of passenger aircraft to our fleet; we also increased numbers of seats, which helped us to open new lines in addition to enhancing our services to a number of lines currently operating.   We have also focused on strengthening our presence on the lines that have high rates of demand; we have allocated new routes to the markets wherewe find good opportunities for growth, particularly in Africa and the Middle East.   As for Morocco, which is demanded from our customers across the world, it is among the markets that we focused on in our expansion strategy, where we run a modern Airbus A 340-500 to Casablanca – Dubai line. The aircraft provides a bigger number of seats and more services for passengers.   What is the number of Moroccan customers who use your airlines? Emirates airlines, as I mentioned earlier, witnessed a huge raise in the number of its Moroccan passengers (a 4.2% rise) during the 2010-2011 fiscal year compared to last year.   The air transport sector in recent years witnessed increasingly fierce competition, especially from air carriers who are characterized with low cost. How do you face those changes? You take competitions positively; we believe competition is healthy and beneficial to the aviation industry, as it contributes to the development of services, which is reflected on the benefit of passengers and cargo customers. As for low cost airlines, we do not consider them competition because each market has its specificity, in terms of the type of carriers, type of services, and the type of market requirements. In the Gulf, for example, these carriers opened a new market for residents working in the countries of the region, who used to travel to their countries in long intervals, whereas now they are able to travel several times during the same period. Emirates airlines was established in 1985 and has grown without any governmental protection nor support in an atmosphere of strong competition with over 70 airlines which were operating then through Dubai. This is what has led the company right from the beginning to provide the best services, travel products and to work on developing them continuously and make it stand firmly in the face of other airlines. Thanks to the excellence of its services and products, Emirates Airline won more than 400 international awards, including Best Website for An Airline Award, the best carrier in the Middle East and Africa, the best first class and the best global entertainment system for aviation for large carriers.    What is the nature of the offers that attract the attention of Moroccan customers? All the offers we provide Morocco with receive great interest from them. One of the best offers that have great success are those that coincide with Dubai's summer festival "young for free," which is part of the "summery smiles in Dubai" campaign. The offer includes free hotel accommodation for two family members under the age of 12 years old, in addition to a discount of up to 50 percent off on an adult ticket to Dubai. In addition to that, we also offer Dubai Shopping Festival and special offers to flights to the Middle East and Far East, and offers in the month of Ramadan, Al-Adha feast and so on.  In addition to skywards which reward our loyal frequent flyers with Emirates. Do Moroccans lean towards flights going to Asian countries? What are their favorite destinations? The number of Moroccan passengers heading to India and the Far East multiplies each year because of the outstanding natural sceneries there and the archaeological sites of those destinations that are admired by those searching for new holidays. To gain the loyalty of our Moroccan customers and encourage them to choose those destinations, Emirates airlines presents tactical offers crowned by the reduction of tickets’ prices. As for business class and first class customers, Emirates airlines offers a range of prices to different destinations that cover more than 100 destinations across six continents, as well as free offers for hotel stays in Dubai. What are your expectations for the end of 2011? As with each year we work hard so that Emirates can keep its leading place, so that the current year can be better than the years before in order for it to be successful and profitable to Emirates Airlines; which happens through continuing to strengthen and develop our services, expand the network of the aircraft, enhance our fleet and maintain it to provide the best customer service on ground and in the air. How were your semi annual results on Morocco's level? Emirates Airlines will announce the financial results for the first half of the current financial year 2011 / 2012 later in October. As for the nature of the results, we don't divide them according to the countries in which we operate, but the results are collective regarding the aviation processes of Emirates airlines through its international network which now includes 114 destinations in 67 countries in all continents, noting that all our destinations make profits. As  for the results of the last financial year 2010-2011, Emirates Group, which includes Emirates airlines and other companies, have achieved a breaking record profit of $1.6 billion, and in spite of all the challenges witnessed by the aviation sector during that period. Thus the group may be continuing to achieve profitability for the 23rd year respectively. As for the profits of Emirates airlines alone, it reached $1.5 billion thanks to a strong growth in demand, which the airline benefited from, depending on the wide coverage of its network services and the increase of its global standard services. Despite the unexpected challenges the world witnessed, specifically in its second half, Emirates airline dealt with it efficiently through the quick initiative to modify the flight schedules and re-distribution of its planes on other various destinations to achieve the required balance in the flights’ network and by maximizing its revenues.   As for Morocco, Emirates has experienced a rise in the number of Moroccan passengers by 4.2 percent during the 2010-2011 fiscal year compared to last year's figures. The revenues from its operations in Morocco exceeded the target by 7 percent during the same year with 8 percent growth of sales compared to last year's figure.