air morocco
hi everybody.....

am booking a trip to essaouira, morocco with some friends and the flights are proving to be a total bitch. the cheapest (and also the only possibility of direct flights) by quite some way are with air morocco and/or its subsidiary atlas blue.

however, having read reviews of these airlines, i am really really nervous about them! everybody says the planes should have been retired in the 1970's and they were terrified/bored/disgusted throughout the flight.

i don't want to pay BA £1,200 of my drinking money for the privilege, but then again, i don't want to die in mid-air either. has anyone here flown london-marrakech or casablanca, and is it as bad as everyone seems to think??????

ta!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 10:12, 15 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

chances are it wouldn't be mid air
I understand its the contact with the ground part that proves trickiest to survive
(happyjoy last changed sig on, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 10:17, Reply)

To be fair
The chances of dying in mid-air are very slim.

It's the ground that'll kill you.

Anyway, I've been on Air Morocco and it was fine. Bit grotty, but there were no delays, loss of baggage or explosions.

EDIT: Happyjoy, I like the way you think!
( Cawl, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 10:17, Reply)

If you really don't want to fly Air Morocco
get Sleazyjet to Marrakesh instead, and then a bus to Essouaira. It doesn't take too long, and is cheaper than BA.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 10:21, Reply)

@ Bob
thanks, i just checked out sleazyjet, as they don't seem to be with expedia i didn't realise they flew there. but because we'd be going sat - sat (one friend is a lecturer and it has to be that week specifically), it's nearly £300 each way.

grrrrrrr.

@ kaol - thanks for positivity - i've flown air cuba and survived very happily despite its bad rep, but people were reeeeeeally slating air morocco, so i began to worry!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 10:26, Reply)

I've never flown Air Morocco myself
But a friend of mine did and spent two and a half years in a North African chokey due to a misunderstanding over the export of Moroccan produce.
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Thu 4 Sep 2008, 10:32, Reply)

I'd say go with
Air Morocco.

Don't sue me if it's crap though, I've not got anything.
( Cawl, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 10:32, Reply)

i may be
a truly brilliant lawyer* but even i couldn't find grounds on which to sue you for that.

will pass on the news - a bit grimy but essentially safe!

@pjm - surely not!

* this statement may contain elements of misrepresentation
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 10:37, Reply)

Try skyscanner .com

And post results as I'm looking to go next year, although I have a fairly healthy fear of camels.
( Naked Ape call me Caitlyn, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 10:40, Reply)

fear of camels??
there's a story in there, surely!

thanks, will check the website out!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 10:42, Reply)

Alternatively...
The way I went to Morocco was by train: Eurostar to Paris, overnight to Madrid, local train to Algaciraz (however it's spelt), ferry to Tangiers, train to Sidi Kacem, train to Marrakech.

That will take you about 60 hours though. BUt perhaps you'd be able to get a flight to Gibralter, ferry from there, and then train/bus to Essaouira?
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 11:28, Reply)

internet reviews work like this
if someone likes something or had no problem with it, why would they go online and say it? unless they are a big weirdo with nothing better to do.

on the other hand, if they hated it they are full of bile and can't wait to spill it through their keyboard.

don't trust internet reviews.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 11:31, Reply)

What Vipros said
is indeed true, but you also have to remember that people who died in an air crash can't write reviews....

Seriously though rswipe, check out their safety record on the web, and decide for yourself. Personally, I'd prefer to spend the money on proper airlines, but to be fair, even crappy airlines have very good safety records, statistically at least.

Just remember that aeroplanes don't crash often.

Normally only once.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 12:14, Reply)

My theory is that
Every tenner you save on an air-fare is another bottle of vodka.

So get the cheapest one possible, get shit-faced and it won't matter how bad the flight is.
( Cawl, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 12:25, Reply)

you could always
take a flight to the south of Spain, and go to Morocco on the boats the bastards use to come here
(bamboozled Can hear you getting fatter, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 15:45, Reply)

What Empress Bob said
Long distance train travel FTW!

See this post for why I hate planes.
( mistaspakkaman and the inedible shifting caterpillars, Thu 4 Sep 2008, 23:22, Reply)