India and Morocco discuss the opening of a direct air link

Morocco and India discussed on Tuesday in New Delhi the possibility of opening a direct air link between the two countries in order to develop tourism and establish a link with Africa.

Such a direct air link will boost economic exchange and tourism between the two countries and will bring India closer to the African continent, Minister of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy, Mohamed Sajid, said during his meeting with Chairman and Managing Director of Air India, Pradeep Singh Kharola.

The number of tourists from both countries is below the expectations of Indian and Moroccan officials who seek to strengthen bilateral relations in all areas, Sajid pointed out.

The opening of this air link will reduce the time of travel and promote the tourist destination of Morocco which has an enormous potential, he said.

After welcoming the Moroccan proposal to establish a direct air link between Morocco and India, Kharola stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation in the areas of tourism and aviation between the two countries.

In this regard, he proposed to start with a codeshare, in which two airlines would share the same flight, adding that India needs to establish direct links with Africa.

This operation will help New Delhi strengthen its presence in Africa as part of its strategy to open up to the continent, he said, adding that Morocco can play a leading role in this vision, taking advantage of its geostrategic location.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed Monday between the Moroccan company for tourism engineering (SMIT) and the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) to promote tourism investment.

In 2017, only 8,000 Moroccans visited India while 15,000 Indians travelled to Morocco.