Tourists in Morocco stranded due to new COVID restrictions
Morocco has been a popular vacation spot in the last couple of months due to its almost non-existent COVID restrictions. People who were tired of the pandemic life were booking their flights to Morocco in order to once again feel what it’s like living in a pre-pandemic world,
In the last couple of weeks, the UK, Germany, and Netherlands have faced an overwhelming rise in the number of COVID cases. Over 40,000 new COVID cases were consistently being reported in the UK on a daily basis with hundreds of deaths being followed as well. Both Germany and Netherlands are on-trend to reach this level as well,
Following the break of this news, Morocco had to suspend all flights from those countries in order to prevent an outbreak in their country as well. Morocco has only so far seen 10% of the number of cases being reported in the UK but they’re still taking these precautionary measures for safety purposes,
Due to these COVID policies, not only are people from those countries unable to travel to Morocco, but tourists from those countries are unable to get a flight back home as well. They’re essentially stranded in Morocco until further notice of the ease of restrictions by the Moroccan government,
Different airlines like EasyJet, Ryanair, British Airways, and the national airline of Morocco, Royal Air Maroc, have all suspended flights between these countries until further notice. People who had already booked their tickets are expected to get a full refund of a free-of-charge change of travel dates until the end of the year,
Royal Air Maroc has announced in a Twitter statement, “Upon decisions of national authorities and following the pandemic situation, flights from/to Germany, Netherlands, and the UK are suspended from today, Wednesday 20th Oct at 23:59”,
An EasyJet spokesperson has said in a statement, “We are still awaiting clarity from the Moroccan authorities as to whether we are permitted to operate repatriation flights beyond midnight today”. On the suspension of flights they noted, “Pending guidance from the Moroccan government, we intend to fly inbound in the coming days to offer passengers repatriation flight options. We are contacting all customers whose flights are canceled with their options which include a free of charge transfer, receiving a voucher, or a refund,”
Tourists stranded in Morocco who urgently need to get home can instead find an alternative route back to their countries. Both France and Spain offer layovers to the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and therefore serve as a good option to those looking to leave the country as soon as possible,
The UK government also spoke out on the situation in a statement saying, “Travelers affected by flight cancellations should contact their airline or tour operator for advice on alternative routes via third countries (Example: France, Spain) where flights are operating as normal”,
Chloe, a British citizen who is in Morocco for a vacation with her significant other has said in a statement, “Nobody seems to know what’s going on, we were supposed to fly back on Thursday night and we found out the flight was canceled when we got to Agadir airport”. She further adds, “Our reps don’t seem to be very confident on exactly when we will get back, they’ve told us not to bother checking out when we next go to the airport just in case we have to come back.”