Royal Air Maroc has great potential, but a lot of work to do if it truly wants to offer a competitive transatlantic business class product. My 787-9 business class flight from New York to Casablanca was not a total disaster but marked by one missed opportunity after another.
Royal Air Maroc 787-9 Business Class – My First Impressions
Years ago, I flew Royal Air Maroc onboard the 787-8 business class with One Mile At A Time, but was keen to try its latest business class product, found only on the 787-9. Royal Air Maroc, often called RAM, flies up to two flights per day between New York (JFK) and Casablanca (CMN).
The cabin is quite unique looking, in a good way, with purple accents and a unique Moroccan pattern on the seats and walls. The reverse herringbone seats are not bad…in theory…when they work.
Perhaps we start with that?
My seat was broken: it would not recline. The control module for the seat was inoperative. The power outlet also did not work (two flights in a row…).
So I moved to the seat behind me. This time, the seat reclined, but not all the way. No matter how I tried, it would not go flat.
The third seat was the charm…I was able to recline this one fully, but found there was a large gap between the cushions when in the lie-flat position (like I experienced on American Airlines…same seat).
How was I able to move seats twice? Oddly, the load factor in business class was only about 25%…like old-school business class before airlines figured out how to monetize it.
The most important thing about business class is the seat, so this was a royal failure.
But the service was also so odd.
First, let me say that service seemed well-intentioned: the ladies were nice and one flight attendant was particularly kind. However, just moments after settling into my seat, a flight attendant came over and asked me what I wanted for dinner.
No greetings. No welcome aboard. Just, “What do you want to eat?” Did they get their training from United Airlines or American Airlines?
We took off and the meals came out quickly after takeoff. Great, right?
First a canape:
Moments later, a tray was plopped down in front of me with an appetizer of burrata, artichoke, asparagus, and bresaola. Not bad at all.
But do you notice anything?
Two glasses, both empty. The flight attendant did not ask if I wanted something to drink.
In fact, the main course showed up and I still had no beverage…no one in the cabin seemed to have one.
I requested a glass of white wine and a look of grim doom spread across the face of the flight attendant.
Oops. She realized she had forgotten drinks.
Soon I had sparkling water and wine (which was terrible, though I wanted to try the Moroccan wine). The main course was tiny…the fish portion was only a few bites…but it wasn’t a bad meal.
After came dessert: cheese followed by fruit.
The meal itself was fine, but the beverage thing was strange.
While a “flight to Africa” may sound like a long flight, the flight is only blocked at seven hours, which means time in the air is only about six hours thanks to long taxi times at JFK built in.
I went to sleep after dinner (and after finding a seat that worked). The bedding is average, with a soft blanket but no mattress pad or fluffy pillow.
About three hours later…with more than two hours still to go in the light…I was awakened for breakfast. This is absolutely the kind of flight that you want to just sleep and skip breakfast on, but I wanted to sample breakfast for the purproses of my flight review. It was quite substantial:
And yet I was too full from dinner to eat more than a few bites of the frittata, leaving everything else.
Breakfast is a nice option to have, but serving this with two hours to go is totally unnecessary. Especially with the low cabin loads, there would have been plenty of time to serve this 45 minutes to an hour before landing.
Also, no wi-fi and the in-flight entertainment selection was quite limited.
However, I quite liked the amenity kit and its contents.
Could the flight have been worse? Sure. But the broken seats do not inspire confidence and the service, while well-intentioned, could really use a lot of work.
Would I fly RAM again? If I had to. But never deliberately.
I’ll have more details in my full review.
I’ve tried to fly that out of IST, but it seems like it’s almost a guaranteed day of swap. I’ll try again over the holidays. RAM is funny, because your meals (aside from the forgotten wine) don’t look bad, and I’ve never had a crew that at least didn’t try to give good service. On their narrowbodies, they’re somewhat pleasant to fly, but a non-functional seat is a pretty big deal breaker.
Does anyone else get banner ads using a clearly scraped picture of matt for some “flight attendant tips” on other websites?
Yes, I’ve now heard this from many people and seen it myself.
You made her feel so nervous she forgot the drink service.
American Airlines and ANA also turn the lights on full without about two hours till landing. I hate it! ESP overnight from the states to London or overnight from hnd to syd. Such short flights. Why do they need to?!
I flew this routing in biz and had a pretty good experience. Pre-departure, I asked for a glass of Champagne, and they immediately obliged and opened a bottle of Duval Leroy – not some average pre-departure Prosecco you get on other carriers. Canapes, drinks, and dinner were served, and just a few hours later, a huge and unnecessary breakfast service. On the return to JFK, service was a bit frosty and not as pleasant. Catering out of JFK was def. better. Transferring in Casablanca was pretty easy.
@james Yes I have seen that ad on a couple of my random pages.