ONDA was established in July 1990 under parliamentary law 14–89. Prior to then, Morocco's airports were administered by the Moroccan Ministry of transport. One year later, ONDA inaugurated Al Massira AirportinAgadir. On 15 September 2003, Abdelhanine Benallou, was nominated as new general manager of ONDA.
Although Morocco has its share in aircraft accidents, the number of serious incidents with fatalities directly related to an airport (approach, take-off or on ground accidents) are very low. The total number of accidents with fatalities in Morocco is 19, resulting in 792 deaths.[1] The same numbers for events directly related to airports are 5 resp. 171.[2] The majority of the airport related incidents are long ago, the last incident in 1986.
ONDA helped in supervising the construction of Yasser Arafat International Airport which Mohammed V International Airport is twinned with. It also organized training programs for Palestinian engineers in Morocco in 1997 just months before the inauguration of the airport in Gaza in December 1998.
Under the name Salon Convives de Marque ONDA offers VIP lounge services at some of the airports it manages. Services offered include access to the VIP lounge, assistance during check-in, retrieving luggage, boarding and assistance with the 'formalities' (passport-control, security etc.) (fast lanes or priority boarding). The VIP service is not linked to any specific airline: anyone can apply for membership. Currently the VIP service is offered at the following airports: Mohammed V (Casablanca), Rabat-Salé, Fes-Saïss, Agadir, Marrakech and Tangier[4]
Access to the VIP service can be bought by individuals (18.000,- Dirham), couples (24.000 Dh) and companies/organisations (60.000 Dh + 150 Dh per user)[5]
As the national operator for all public airports in Morocco the information they publish on flight-movements give a strong indication of the development of visitors and flights to the country. Also the cargo-figures tell something about the economy.
The ONDA publishes monthly reports which contain number of passengers per airport and an overall total of aircraft-movements (landings and take-offs) and cargo figures for the whole country.
Despite the international crisis, which hits Europe and North-America the most, the Moroccan airport authority reports continuously increasing passenger-numbers, aircraft-movements and processed cargo.
The summer-months are by far the busiest months for passengers. Not only tourists traveling to the main tourist locations as Marrakesh and Agadir see high volumes of passengers, also the airports in the North of Morocco see increasing passenger-numbers. Moroccans who live in Europe tend to visit family during the summer and although many of them still come over by ferry increasing numbers of people come by air.
Other indications of this are for example:
In the summer months at least once a week the scheduled flights operated by Royal Air Maroc use a Boeing 747 instead of the normal Boeing 737
other cheap airlines like Jet4you, Germanwings and AirArabiaMaroc operate scheduled flights to the Northern cities like Oujda, Nador, Fes, Al-Hoceima and Tanger
The increase in passengers overall in 2010, compared to 2009 was +14,93%[6] and this trend continued in 2011 – although not as spectacular. The year-on-year growth in passengernumbers in July 2011 was still +6,28%[7]
The main international airport, Mohammed V in Casablanca, handles over 40% of all aircraft movements (landings and take-offs) and the second airport, Marrakesh, handles another 15%[6][7]
By far the majority of traffic comes from Europe, where France is responsible for 30-35% of all traffic and the rest of Europe produces 40-45% of all traffic. Domestic flights are responsible for 10% of traffic.
Other destinations to/from Morocco are North America (2-2,5%), Middle & Far-East (5%) and Africa (Maghreb: 3,5; rest of Africa: 6%)[6][7]
