British Airways and Royal Air Maroc have forged a codeshare to open up access to destinations in Morocco and other African countries.
The airline’s first African codeshare will provide more choice of services between Heathrow and Marrakesh.
Daily access to Royal Air Maroc’s hub in Casablanca, which is not currently served directly by British Airways, will also be available.
Connections can be made at Casablanca onto other Royal Air Maroc destinations, including Agadir, Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and Freetown in Sierra Leone.
Codeshare flights will operate from February 20, prior to the Moroccan airline joining of the Oneworld alliance on April 1.
British Airways head of alliances Chris Fordyce said: “Not only will this codeshare agreement give our customers the choice of more flights to Africa’s biggest tourist destination, Morocco, it will connect our extensive global network to new destinations in Africa.”
Royal Air Maroc chief executive Hamid Addou added: “This new code-share with British Airways confirms Royal Air Maroc’s major role as a key player connecting Africa to the rest of the world.
“We are very pleased with this co-operation which will foster our traffic development and ease the access to both our companies’ networks on both ends.
“Thanks to this code-sharing agreement, Royal Air Maroc offers its passengers access to additional destinations across Great Britain and a better customer journey, through optimized connections and end-to-end check-in operations, with international assistance at airports served by the two companies.”