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With just four days to go before the opening whistle of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Royal Air Maroc quietly made aviation history, putting Africa on the map of the US West Coast for the first time.
The Moroccan carrier’s inaugural flight from Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport touched down in Los Angeles on June 7, completing a journey of roughly eleven to twelve hours and closing a connectivity gap that had existed across all 54 African nations. Until that date, not a single African airline had operated a nonstop flight linking the continent to the US West Coast.
The thrice-weekly service runs on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays, operated aboard Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft valued for their long-haul efficiency and passenger comfort. “Bringing Los Angeles closer than ever. Starting June 7, 2026, Royal Air Maroc launches direct flights from Casablanca to Los Angeles aboard our Boeing 787 Dreamliner,” the airline said.
The timing was anything but accidental. The new service responds to growing intercontinental travel demand ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, which kicks off across the United States, Canada and Mexico on June 11. Los Angeles is one of the tournament’s host cities, scheduled to stage eight matches — five in the group stage, two in the Round of 32 and a quarter-final. RAM chief executive Hamid Addou described the route as more than just a new destination, calling it a milestone for the airline and for Africa’s global air connectivity.
Royal Air Maroc already operates into five North American cities, New York, Washington, Miami, Montreal and Toronto, but the Los Angeles route breaks new ground geographically. Africa does have other nonstop links to the United States: Kenya Airways connects Nairobi to New York, while Ethiopian Airlines and EgyptAir serve US destinations from Addis Ababa and Cairo respectively. The Casablanca, Los Angeles corridor, however, is the first to bridge the continent with the Pacific seaboard.
Casablanca’s Mohammed V International Airport, which already handles over ten million passengers annually and connects more than 100 destinations worldwide, stands to gain further from the new route. Analysts expect Casablanca to draw connecting traffic from West and Central Africa through the hub, deepening its position as one of the continent’s premier aviation gateways.
The expansion also supports Morocco’s broader ambition to grow national air traffic to 90 million passengers by 2035. That target sits alongside an even larger stage on the horizon: Morocco is set to co-host the 2030 FIFA World Cup with Spain and Portugal, a tournament that will test the country’s infrastructure and international connections on an unprecedented scale.
For now, the airline’s immediate focus is converting World Cup momentum into durable demand. The passenger mix Royal Air Maroc is targeting tourists, business travellers, football supporters and members of the African diaspora, will give a first indication after the tournament of whether the route can sustain itself commercially through the quieter months that typically follow a major sporting event.
By: Andrews Kwesi Yeboah