Royal Air Maroc tenders for new planes, CEO says

Royal Air Maroc has launched a tender to buy new planes as Morocco's flagship carrier, one of Africa's largest, expands to meet growing travel demand, CEO Abdelhamid Addou said on Thursday. "The tender has been launched on April 15," Addou told Reuters. RAM plans to quadruple its fleet within a decade as the country prepares to co-host the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal. Such large-scale tenders are usually not made public to preserve confidentiality. In October, Addou said RAM was seeking to buy 200 planes, mostly medium haul ones with long and short haul aircraft, to compete in a growing African market. RAM connects some 50 African airports with a fleet of 52 airplanes, mostly Boeing. Addou previously said RAM's plan helps to meet Morocco's goal of attracting 17.5m tourists by 2026 and 26m by 2030. Last year, Morocco reported record tourist arrivals of 14.5m.<br/>