22.3 MILLION PASSENGERS: MOROCCO’S BUSIEST AIRPORTS REVEALED

Casablanca remains Morocco’s largest air gateway, Marrakech is closing the gap and European routes continue to drive most international traffic.

Morocco’s airports handled exactly 22,282,997 passenger movements during the first seven months of 2026, the latest official figures reveal.

Casablanca Mohammed V Airport remained the country’s busiest gateway. But Marrakech-Menara was only 546,392 passenger movements behind, according to an MTD calculation based on data from Morocco’s National Airports Office, ONDA.

Together, the two airports processed almost 13.4 million passengers, approximately six in every ten passenger movements recorded across Morocco’s entire airport network.

The figures reveal a rapidly growing aviation market dominated by international travel. They also show that Morocco’s airports and overseas markets are not all expanding at the same speed.

MOROCCO’S AIRPORTS PASSED 22.28 MILLION PASSENGERS

Passenger traffic increased by 8.77% between January and July 2026 compared with the same period of 2025.

The total of 22,282,997 covers January 1 through July 31. During July alone, Morocco’s airports handled 3,450,846 passengers, up from 3,184,027 in July 2025.

These are passenger movements, not 22.28 million unique people, tourists, foreign visitors or arrivals.

One person can generate multiple movements by taking an outbound flight and later returning. ONDA’s workbook divides traffic into international and domestic categories but does not provide a separate national headline breakdown for arrivals, departures and transit passengers.

MOROCCO AIR TRAFFIC 2026 AT A GLANCE

International and domestic traffic add up exactly to the ONDA total.

CASABLANCA REMAINS NUMBER ONE, BUT MARRAKECH IS CLOSE

Casablanca Mohammed V processed 6,953,695 passengers during the first seven months of 2026.

Marrakech-Menara followed with 6,407,303.

Casablanca’s lead was 546,392 passenger movements, MTD calculated from the official totals. It is a close gap, but the figures do not prove that Marrakech will overtake Casablanca.

The airports also play different roles.

Casablanca is Morocco’s principal aviation hub, handling domestic connections, international services and transfer activity. Marrakech has a particularly strong international and leisure-travel profile.

The statistics measure volume, not why people travelled. Business trips, holidays, family visits and diaspora journeys can all contribute to an airport’s total.

BUSIEST AIRPORTS IN MOROCCO, JANUARY THROUGH JULY 2026

Every figure covers the same seven-month period, not July alone.

AGADIR, TANGIER AND RABAT COMPLETE THE TOP FIVE

Agadir-Al Massira ranked third with 2,179,857 passengers. It is a major gateway for Agadir and Morocco’s southern Atlantic tourism economy, although its total includes more than tourists.

Tangier Ibn Battouta placed fourth with 1,711,764 passengers. The airport serves a northern region with significant industrial, commercial, diaspora and leisure connections.

Rabat-Salé completed the top five after handling 1,446,355 passengers. Its traffic can include government and business travel alongside tourism and family visits.

Casablanca and Marrakech dominate the ranking, but the top five show how passenger growth stretches across a wider national network.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL DOMINATES THE TOTAL

International traffic reached 19,894,489 passengers, up 8.82% from the corresponding period of 2025.

Domestic traffic increased by 8.36% to 2,388,508 passengers.

Calculated from the official figures, international services represented approximately 89.3% of the total. Domestic services accounted for about 10.7%.

That does not mean Morocco received 19.89 million foreign tourists by air. International traffic can include Moroccan residents, Moroccans living abroad, tourists, business travellers and family visitors.

Airport traffic also cannot measure tourism performance on its own. Border arrivals, accommodation data, visitor spending and length of stay tell different parts of that story.

EUROPE IS THE GIANT, SOUTH AMERICA THE FASTEST RISER

Europe generated 16,541,007 international passenger movements, making it by far Morocco’s largest regional air market.

The six regional totals add up exactly to ONDA’s international figure of 19,894,489.

South America recorded the fastest percentage increase, at 34.21%, but remained the smallest market with 62,880 passengers.

Europe’s increase was lower, at 9.29%, but applied to more than 16.5 million passenger movements. The fastest percentage growth is not the same as the biggest market.

The Middle and Far East was the only regional category to decline, falling by 4.12%.

The regions describe traffic flows. They do not reveal passengers’ nationalities or reasons for travelling.

MORE AIRCRAFT MOVEMENTS AND MORE FREIGHT

Moroccan airports registered 164,164 aircraft movements between January and July, up 9.82%.

Casablanca Mohammed V recorded 55,223, followed by Marrakech-Menara with 42,028 and Agadir-Al Massira with 15,009.

In standard airport statistics, one take-off or one landing is one aircraft movement. It is not automatically a complete flight or round trip. ONDA labels the indicator “movements” but does not define it separately in the workbook.

Air freight rose by 12.61% to 66,980.55 tonnes. This is cargo, not passenger baggage.

The figures do not show whether aircraft were fuller or emptier because ONDA’s workbook does not provide the seat-capacity, aircraft-type and load-factor data required for that calculation.

WHAT THE GROWTH CAN MEAN FOR YOUR JOURNEY

Rising demand can support more route choice and greater investment in terminals, runways, transport links and passenger-processing systems.

It can also create busier peaks on particular days or at particular hours.

But a seven-month national total cannot predict live conditions inside one terminal. The figures do not prove that every airport is constantly congested or that every traveller will face longer queues.

Passengers should rely on live information from their airline and departure airport.

FIVE CHECKS BEFORE FLYING FROM A BUSY MOROCCAN AIRPORT

Confirm the correct airport and terminal.

Check the live flight status.

Follow the airline’s recommended arrival time.

Recheck baggage and travel-document requirements.

Arrange airport transport before departure.

MOROCCO’S AIRPORT EXPANSION TOWARDS 2030

The growth comes as ONDA implements its Airports 2030 strategy.

A government-ONDA agreement signed in July 2025 provides for MAD 38 billion of investment between 2025 and 2030. The objective is to increase Morocco’s annual airport capacity from approximately 34 million to 80 million passengers.

Capacity is not traffic. It describes what infrastructure is designed to handle, not how many passengers have already used it.

Earthworks for Casablanca Mohammed V’s new terminal began in July 2025. The principal construction contract was awarded in January 2026. Its first phase is designed for 20 million passengers annually, with a stated construction period of 40 months.

Marrakech-Menara and Agadir-Al Massira remain operational while expansion programmes move forward. Official targets put their planned annual capacities at 16 million and seven million passengers respectively by the end of 2029.

These are planned capacities, not completed results.

FIVE AIRPORTS, ONE RAPIDLY GROWING NETWORK

Morocco’s aviation growth is not one story unfolding in one city.

Casablanca remains the largest gateway. Marrakech is close behind, while Agadir, Tangier and Rabat are strengthening a network serving different regions and different types of travel.

The latest figures prove that more traffic is moving through Morocco’s airports.

The next test is simple: making sure the airports grow as fast as the journeys passing through them.