Morocco extends suspension of scheduled foreign flights till 31 January

Morocco has extended the suspension of commercial flights to and from the North African country until January 31, state TV reported on Friday.

The decision comes almost a month after the Interministerial Covid Monitoring Committee announced the suspension of all direct passenger flights to and from the Kingdom.

“Due to the rapid spread of the new variant of the COVID-19 virus – Omicron, particularly in Europe and Africa, and in order to preserve the gains made by Morocco in the fight against the pandemic and to protect the health of citizens, it was decided to suspend all direct passenger flights to the Kingdom of Morocco,” the Committee said in a press release.

Morocco ended Thursday the repatriation scheme of its nationals stranded abroad from Portugal, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates and extended the state of health emergency until January 31, 2022 to stem the rapid spread of the new variant.

Only special repatriation flights from Morocco are now authorized, particularly to France, subject to case-by-case approval by the Moroccan authorities.

The Moroccan government has already banned all New Year’s celebrations and reinstated a nighttime curfew, as part of the kingdom’s preventive measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.