Hike in oil prices caused RAM a $22 million overcost (CEO)

The hike in oil prices of these last months caused Morocco's carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) a 200 million Dirham (around US$ 22 million) overcost, said CEO Mohamed Berrada.

However, he said, results were positive, and even better than last year's.

Evoking RAM's investments, Berrada said, in a release published Monday by the daily "Le Matin du Sahara et du Maghreb," that the company benefited from the crisis experienced by world air transport since 2001 "to speed up its modernization programs, to enhance its flexibility and its adaptation capacity and to improve productivity."

The company ambitions to become "a great national group able to play a leading role in growth and be a privileged instrument of the government's economic policy," he said.

The executive recalled that several lines were opened this year, namely Casablanca-Bologna (north of Italy), Marrakesh-Geneva, Lyon-Marrakesh, Marseilles-Marrakesh, Agadir-Milano, and announced the launch, very soon, of the Casablanca-Nantes line.

As regards the new low cost company Blue Atlas, Berrada pointed out that low cost air traffic is recording nowadays the highest growth rates in the world, with 20 to 30% in average, against 2% for regular traffic, noting that Atlas Blue will offer different services than RAM's, and will target different customers.

For Mohamed Berrada, Atlas Blue is a "national tool that will make it possible to reinforce air Moroccan air transport's competitiveness.