RABAT, June 16 (Reuters) - Morocco's flag carrier, Royal Air Maroc, said on Tuesday it has signed an order to buy six planes and lease another four from ATR, the world's largest maker of turbo-prop passenger aircraft.
No financial details were disclosed.
'Air Maroc signed a contract with ATR on June 16 to acquire four ATR 72-600 and two ATR 42-600 planes and had taken an option to buy two ATR 72-600,' it said in a statement.
Since the first ATR aircraft will be delivered only in 2011, Air Maroc is leasing four ATR 72-200s from ATR, which is co-owned by EADS and Finmeccanica.
Air Maroc said the new planes would be used by its newly created domestic subsidiary, Royal Air Maroc Express.
Air Maroc and other airlines, most of them European companies, are benefiting from the government's policy to increase tourism to 10 million visitors by 2010 from 8 million last year.
The government is also encouraging the expansion of air transport, including low-cost flights.
Morocco signed an Open Skies agreement with the European Union in 2006 allowing new airline competitors, including low-budget carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet .
The Open Skies agreement spurred passenger traffic growth by between 16 percent and 19 percent per year since 2006.
Passenger traffic grew to 11.2 million in 2008 from 5.5 million in 2006, say government officials who expect both tourism and air traffic to slow this year and early next year before a rebound.
(Reporting by Lamine Ghanmi; Editing by Richard Chang)
((maghreb.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; +212-537 720065) Keywords: AIRMAROC PLANES/
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
No financial details were disclosed.
'Air Maroc signed a contract with ATR on June 16 to acquire four ATR 72-600 and two ATR 42-600 planes and had taken an option to buy two ATR 72-600,' it said in a statement.
Since the first ATR aircraft will be delivered only in 2011, Air Maroc is leasing four ATR 72-200s from ATR, which is co-owned by EADS and Finmeccanica.
Air Maroc said the new planes would be used by its newly created domestic subsidiary, Royal Air Maroc Express.
Air Maroc and other airlines, most of them European companies, are benefiting from the government's policy to increase tourism to 10 million visitors by 2010 from 8 million last year.
The government is also encouraging the expansion of air transport, including low-cost flights.
Morocco signed an Open Skies agreement with the European Union in 2006 allowing new airline competitors, including low-budget carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet .
The Open Skies agreement spurred passenger traffic growth by between 16 percent and 19 percent per year since 2006.
Passenger traffic grew to 11.2 million in 2008 from 5.5 million in 2006, say government officials who expect both tourism and air traffic to slow this year and early next year before a rebound.
(Reporting by Lamine Ghanmi; Editing by Richard Chang)
((maghreb.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; +212-537 720065) Keywords: AIRMAROC PLANES/
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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