With its first flight from Casablanca (CMN), Morocco, to Beijing’s Daxing International Airport (PKX), on 20th January 2025, Africa’s leading cargo airline, Royal Air Maroc Cargo, has reinstated an essential Sino-Moroccan trade link. On Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, a Boeing 787-9 will link the two cities, offering a weekly cargo uplift of approximately 30 tons each way. The three return flights to Casablanca will operate on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. These scheduled, direct flights in both directions will ensure fast transit times for cargo customers, offer complete tracking transparency, and enable them to plan long term transport solutions.
“For many centuries, Morocco’s geographical location has rendered it the perfect gateway for shipping trade to Africa and Europe,” says Mr. Yassine Berrada, VP Cargo at Royal Air Maroc. “At Royal Air Maroc, we are proud to go even further, building Casablanca up as a true air bridge between Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Our newly launched, thrice-weekly service out of China’s largest airport, not only provides a highly efficient service for Chinese goods destined for Africa, but also offers a direct onward connection to Brazil, thanks to our recently commenced Sao Paolo (GRU) route.”
Royal Air Maroc enjoyed a successful business relationship with the Chinese market prior to the pandemic, with regular flights to Beijing. “Reinstating Chinese services was an obvious and natural decision as goods exchange is important,” Mr. Yassine Berrada explains. “We chose China’s largest airport in Beijing as our starting point, since demand is strongest here both in terms of passenger and cargo. In the future, we plan to expand connections to other major Chinese cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou.”
Cargo demand into Beijing is strong given the growing Chinese interest in the vast array of African exports ranging from integrated circuits, electrical control panels and conductors, transistors, mineral and metallic products, copper products, zinc ore, copper-zinc alloy, copper anodes for electrolytic refining, silver ore, lead ore, copper scrap, aluminum alloy, and manganese ore, to textiles, accessories, leather goods, garments, fish oil, frozen fruits and vegetables, and agricultural products.
In China, Royal Air Maroc is competently represented by Globe Air Cargo China, a subsidiary of ECS Group. The GSSA will be filling inbound Moroccan flights with Chinese goods such as: electricals, electronic equipment, furniture, lighting signs, prefabricated buildings, iron/steel goods, knitted or crocheted fabrics, manmade filaments, toys, games, and sports equipment among other commodities. Many of these will enjoy direct onforwarding to Brazil via Morocco, on board Royal Air Maroc’s recently launched CMN-GRU flights. In addition, ECS Group will provide robust technological support using its proprietary solutions and enabling access to CargoTech’s comprehensive suite of digital tools. These advanced platforms, covering revenue management, e-booking, and capacity optimization, will enhance Royal Air Maroc’s operational efficiency, maximize its cargo potential and market reach through data-driven insights.
Adrien Thominet, Executive Chairman of ECS Group stated: “We are incredibly proud to support Royal Air Maroc in establishing this vital link between China and Morocco. Our dedicated teams at Globe Air Cargo China are committed to ensuring the success of this route by optimizing cargo flows and leveraging our advanced digital solutions. By combining our expertise with Royal Air Maroc’s ambitious vision, we are helping to build efficient and sustainable air freight solutions that drive economic growth and connectivity across continents.”
