Royal Air Maroc Cargo is carrying out a major renovation and expansion of its temperature-controlled facilities at Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport, as it prepares for higher volumes in perishables and pharmaceuticals.
The carrier’s cold storage operation at Casablanca has been in service for 13 years and is now being upgraded both to modernise the infrastructure and to increase capacity. Once the project is complete, the facility will offer five chambers instead of four, split between three import chambers and two export chambers, with a combined surface area of 590 sq m.
The redesigned layout will include a 240 sq m import chamber at 2°-8°C, an 85 sq m import chamber at 15°-25°C, a 25 sq m frozen import chamber, a 140 sq m export chamber at 2°-8°C and a 100 sq m export chamber at 15°-25°C.
Rita Chraibi, vice president cargo at Royal Air Maroc, said the investment was driven by three main factors: the need to renovate temperature-controlled infrastructure on a roughly 15-year cycle, steady volume growth linked to the airline’s broader fleet expansion, and the rapid rise of pharmaceutical logistics in Morocco and across Africa as healthcare systems expand and demand grows.
Hicham Kharbach, head of cargo operations, said the Casablanca facilities had performed well since opening in 2012 and had undergone regular maintenance and calibration, but added that the carrier now needed larger and more numerous chambers to maintain service quality as volumes increase. He also said improved equipment and technology would boost energy efficiency, with the future warehouses to be supplied by solar energy.
Casablanca remains the airline’s main cargo hub, but Royal Air Maroc Cargo also operates temperature-controlled storage at all of Morocco’s airports, including Fès-Saïs, Oujda Angads, Rabat-Salé, Agadir-Al Massira and Marrakech Menara. The network is intended to provide continuity for cold chain shipments across the country.
Fresh agricultural produce remains one of the airline’s important export segments. Through its Fresh Cargo product, Royal Air Maroc Cargo handles perishables in temperature-controlled environments using dedicated cool containers and specialised ULDs, with the aim of preserving quality and ensuring timely delivery.
