Royal Air Maroc Cargo meets growing cool chain demand with enhanced facilities

Royal Air Maroc Cargo is carrying out extensive renovation and expansion work at its temperature-controlled facilities at Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport (CMN). Once completed, the cargo arm of the nation’s airline will have access to a total of five cold chambers at its main hub. Three import and two export chambers with a combined area of 590 m², will provide different cold storage temperatures to cater to the requirements of the region’s large perishables (fresh produce and flowers) industry and growing pharmaceuticals demand.

“Three key factors led to our substantial investment in upgrading the cold storage facilities at Casablanca Airport,” says Mrs Rita Chraibi, VP Cargo at Royal Air Maroc. “Firstly, temperature-controlled facilities should be renovated at least every 15 years. Secondly, our strategic fleet expansion is already seeing a steady increase in volumes through our main hub, and thirdly, we are registering fast logistics growth in pharmaceuticals in Morocco and Africa due to improving healthcare infrastructures and rising demand – a trend which will continue for years to come.”

“Our facilities were new when we moved into them in 2012 and have since successfully undergone many regular maintenance and system calibration checks,” explains M. Hicham Kharbach, Head of Cargo Operations at Royal Air Maroc. “Yet, it is clear that Royal Air Maroc Cargo needs more and larger storage chambers to continue providing seamless, top-quality service as volumes grow. And as equipment and technology has developed since then, we stand to benefit from improved energy efficiency in our temperature-controlled warehouses, which will soon be alimented by solar energy.”

The new layout, which has grown from an initial four to now five chambers, includes:

• A 2°–8°C import chamber with an area of 240 m²
• A 15°–25°C import chamber with an area of 85 m²
• A negative (Frozen) import chamber with an area of 25 m²
• A 2°–8°C export chamber with an area of 140 m²
• A 15°–25°C export chamber with an area of 100 m²

Royal Air Maroc Cargo operates cold storage facilities in all Moroccan airports. Aside from its main hub in Casablanca (CAS), these are: Fès–Saïs Airport (FEZ), Oujda’s Angads Airport (OUD), Rabat–Salé Airport (RBA), Agadir–Al Massira Airport (AGA), and Marrakesh Menara Airport (RAK).

Agricultural products are a strong export commodity for Royal Air Maroc Cargo. Its Fresh Cargo product is designed to handle temperature-sensitive shipments such as perishables. They receive priority handling in temperature-controlled spaces and state-of-the-art cool containers and ULD supplied by specialized providers. Fresh Cargo safeguards the quality and timely delivery of each perishable shipment carried on Royal Air Maroc Cargo.