Aviation watchdog JonNYC has confirmed that Delta Air Lines will be announcing new service from Atlanta to Marrakech, Morocco. Initially he teased a flight from Atlanta to Africa, suggesting only that only that it would not be Southern Africa.
DL: rumors going around of a possible long haul route announcement Friday.
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Think ex-ATL to Africa-ish
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 7:17 PM
as in not southern Africa
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Then when he posted an article about airport quality ratings, he pulled out in particular that “Marrakech Airport came in last place.” And he confirmed that, indeed, that was a hint.
I guess I need to be more subtle in the future
— JonNYC (@xjonnyc.bsky.social) February 27, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Atlanta – Marrakech is 4,348 miles across the Atlantic, the same distance (well, four miles farther) than Chicago O’Hare – Frankfurt. Delta, of course, has tremendous connecting feed in Atlanta to scoop up any passengers that may wish to travel to Marrakech. They won’t have connections on the other end.
Royal Air Maroc is a member of oneworld. American Airlines was going to fly to Casablanca (from Philadelphia) before the pandemic got in the way of their plans. They sold off the Boeing 757s they were going to use for the flight, and never returned to the opportunity. Having also sold their Boeing 767s and parked Airbus A330s out in the desert, they’ve had a long haul aircraft shortage ever since – exacerbated by Boeing 787 delivery delays.
Currently, Royal Air Maroc flies non-stop from Casablanca to Washington Dulles, New York JFK, Miami Montreal and Toronto. Air Canada flies from Montreal to Casablanca and Air Transat from Montreal to Marrakech. The only current non-stop flight between the U.S. and Marrakech is United’s service from Newark. Delta must think this flight is doing well.
It’s not clear what aircraft they will use for the flight, or what frequency they’ll offer. They’re still operating Boeing 767s from Atlanta, and it does have the range (indeed, Delta runs them on routes slightly longer than this one) so my guess would be that they’d go for the less expensive lift and the aircraft with a less premium product for this market compared to an Airbus A330. However unless there are further leaks that will have to wait until Delta’s announcement.
I can’t wait for more from my old band.. Morrocan Roll!
Ohho, United’s gonna be pissed!
@ Gary — Nice to see United leading the way. Of course, DL will fly a POS 767-300 on the route, so it will still be better to fly United Polaris to RAK.
@Gene — Look on the bright side: If DL flies the older 763 with just Economy and Delta One, then it’s ripe for GUCs from Economy, which could be a high-value use for Diamonds that are interested.
I’m sure Mr. Dunn will have some thoughts as well.
I’ll choose whichever airline has a voiceover of Diana Burnwood welcoming me to Marrakesh. (Any gamers roaming around here?)
Who knows, we might get BOS-RAK on an A330 instead of ATL-RAK. Royal Air Maroc used to fly to Boston with 787-9s.
Shows you Royal Air Maroc for joining oneworld. Hahahaha. They would be better of relying on feed from Hawaiian that loser AA. I never thought of connecting thru Miami to get to Morocco but im sure it happens.
@Joseph — Yeah, that MIA-RAK route is an odd one. Then again, back in the day, South African flew from CPT-MIA with their 747, so Florida-Africa routes have existed in the past as well.
@Gary Between making less profits, treating FA’s like trash with no contract, and getting audited by the FAA last year is leading the way! Haha enjoy the forever second place company!
That is awesome!!! I Can’t wait. World cup soccer is coming up in 2030 in Morocco. Sign me up
@Trevor — Has management tried running a blue ball through a Rube Goldberg machine with Rhapsody in Blue redux playing in the background?
As a former 1K, I presumed *that* would fix ‘everything’… (it didn’t).
So far, I will admit, it has been better as a Diamond with the other guys.
Seriously, can someone check up on Tim. He should be loving this!
Kinda boring. Just looks like they are copying United as usual
@ 1990 — Too bad I’ll become former Duamond soon, along with my recent fall from UA GS. These things just aren’t worth the trouble anymore. I should make LT Diamond in about 8-9 years if DL doesn’t move the goal posts. Of course, by then Diamond will likely be worthless, and we’ll all be dead or living in the 11th province of Canada…
Sadly, there was a time when Royal Air Maroc was an eyelash away from becoming a SkyTeam member. They have had such close connections with Air France including equity positions. Not sure why that never materialized.
@Ryan — You’re ‘kinda boring.’ Sounds like someone is afraid of competition. Tee-hee.
since 1990 has asked for my commentary elsewhere, here it goes.
DL like AA and UA continues to look for opportunities to use aircraft during the winter when most of the network is slow. DL is also adding seasonal ATL-ACC and more AUS flights. DL started Africa service first of the big 3 but UA showed that RAK works well for seasonal service. DL’s strength in Europe is around the Med and N. Africa – where politically stable – is a viable alternative to Europe during the peak of winter for some Americans who are traveling all over the world and expected to continue to do so.
As for labor comments above, DL and WN are the only two of the big 4 that have raised the pay of all workgroups. The AFA has shown DL FAs for a generation why they make no sense as representatives for DL FAs.
As for the incessant discussions about DL 1 on DL’s 767s, DL has clearly figured out how to use its fleet where it makes the most sense and money. DL flies 30% less international ASMs than UA but generates more profits. AA has a consistent hard product but can’t deliver the soft service. Polaris is a one-size-fits-all product but is inferior to DL One on the 350s and 339s. not a single other large global carrier has a single product across its international fleet; UA does that with Polaris but has an uncompetitive product at the top end.
If the DL/UA business class product differences on the 767s mattered, UA would be making a whole lot more money – but they don’t.
And DL continues to retire 767s while UA has no choice but to keep them in service because Boeing can’t deliver 787s fast enough for UA to grow and retire aircraft – which is what DL is doing.
Good for DL in Morocco and more Ghana service.
ATL-RAK will be served by a 767-400.
@Tim Dunn — Thank you!
On Africa routes, I find it interesting that American Airlines doesn’t even try. Maybe they’ll give it a go once they have the a321XLR, like to Morocco as well. Doubtful with RAM as a partner.
United and Delta are currently tied with four countries. So, Delta would be in lead with the addition of Morocco (ATL-RAK) to the existing South Africa (ATL-CPT/JNB), Ghana (JFK-ACC), Nigeria (JFK/ATL-LOS), and Senegal (JFK-DSS). United still has South Africa (EWR-CPT/JNB), Morocco (EWR-RAK), Ghana (IAD-ACC), and Nigeria (IAD-LOS).
I’ve taken United’s 787 in Polaris on the EWR-JNB route many times, but its reliability is a concern–frequently delayed, occasionally canceled due to ‘fuel shortages’ at JNB. I’m sure DL’s a350 in Delta One would be an equally nice hard product (with or without a door) for ATL-JNB.
I did enjoy your ‘politically stable’ distinction–I’m fairly confident, none of the ‘big three’ are purposely flying direct to Mogadishu or Lubumbashi these days, or likely ever. But, I am surprised that no one is attempting nonstops from North America to Nairobi as there are so many high-end safaris there–maybe DL feels Kenya Airways can handle it, but they are somewhat unreliable. Likewise, with Cairo, though maybe United feels that EgyptAir has that route covered. Hmm.