Royal Air Maroc Cargo’s Casablanca–Los Angeles service, launched on 7 June 2026 with three weekly Boeing 787 flights, makes it the only African carrier connecting the continent directly with the American West Coast, and combined with its Casablanca–Beijing route, completes a trade corridor running Los Angeles to Beijing through Morocco.
TWO ROUTES THAT BECOME A CORRIDOR
Royal Air Maroc Cargo launched the first and only direct service between Casablanca and Los Angeles in June 2026, operating three times weekly with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft offering significant belly cargo capacity. The carrier describes the route as a further step in a tri-continental network strategy, and its significance lies less in the sector itself than in what it completes.
Building on the Casablanca–Beijing service launched in early 2025 and the airline’s wider transatlantic network, the new route creates cargo flows between Los Angeles, Casablanca and Beijing that together form what Royal Air Maroc Cargo describes as a round-the-world trade corridor linking major production and consumer markets. A single carrier can now move freight from the American West Coast to China through its own hub, in either direction, without handing the shipment to an interline partner – which is a materially different commercial proposition from operating two unconnected long-haul routes.
WHAT MOVES IN EACH DIRECTION
The commodity mix the carrier identifies reflects the geography precisely. Artisan products, textiles and perishables travel into the United States from Morocco and wider African markets. Electronics, e-commerce shipments and industrial products are flown in from China and greater Asia. Los Angeles provides access to one of the world’s largest consumer markets and benefits from established Pacific trade links.
The underserved lanes are where the strategic value sits. Africa to the US West Coast and Africa to Asia are both corridors with limited direct capacity, and freight moving between them has conventionally routed through European or Gulf hubs, adding transit time and a handling point. Rita Chraibi, Vice-President Cargo at Royal Air Maroc, said the Los Angeles launch marked a significant milestone in the strategy to connect key international markets via the Casablanca hub and to facilitate global trade connections, and that by linking the US West Coast with the airline’s African and Asian network, customers benefited from seamless multi-leg connectivity, improved market access and enhanced routing options.
THE HUB BEHIND IT
Royal Air Maroc Cargo operates from Mohammed V airport, thirty minutes from Casablanca. Its freight terminal is equipped with two cold rooms, two 100-square-metre safe rooms and a sub-zero room, with a cargo handling capacity of 200,000 tonnes and 140 staff working across shifts. The temperature-controlled and secure-storage capability is what allows the carrier to handle the perishables moving out of Africa and the high-value electronics arriving from Asia within the same facility – the two commodity categories that define the corridor.
The airline flies scheduled direct services to 82 destinations worldwide including freighter operations, extended through interline agreements with other carriers and partnerships with trucking providers. The Los Angeles service strengthens its position in North America, which it identifies as one of its most important cargo markets, and opens further opportunities in high-value and e-commerce-driven supply chains.
Source and Images: Royal Air Maroc Cargo
