Royal Air Maroc Cargo, the freight arm of Morocco’s national airline, has announced it is upgrading and expanding its temperature-controlled facilities at Casablanca Mohammed V International Airport (CMN), increasing capacity to support rising demand for perishables and pharmaceuticals across Morocco and Africa.

The redevelopment will see the carrier operate five cold chambers at its main hub – three dedicated to imports and two to exports – with a combined surface area of 590m².

The upgraded facility will offer multiple temperature ranges tailored to fresh produce, flowers and pharmaceutical shipments.

Rita Chraibi, vice president cargo at Royal Air Maroc, said: “Three key factors led to our substantial investment in upgrading the cold storage facilities at Casablanca Airport. 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.”

The new configuration includes dedicated chambers for 2° to 8°C and 15° to 25°C cargo, as well as frozen storage, across both import and export flows.

M. Hicham Kharbach, head of cargo operations at Royal Air Maroc, added: “Our facilities were new when we moved into them in 2012 and have since successfully undergone many regular maintenance and system calibration checks. 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 expansion increases the number of chambers from four to five and is expected to enhance handling capacity for temperature-sensitive cargo, particularly as pharmaceutical logistics volumes accelerate.

Royal Air Maroc Cargo operates cold storage facilities across all Moroccan airports, including Fès–Saïs, Oujda Angads, Rabat–Salé, Agadir–Al Massira and Marrakesh Menara, with Casablanca serving as its primary hub.

Perishables remain a key export segment for the carrier. Its Fresh Cargo product provides priority handling for temperature-sensitive shipments, supported by controlled environments, specialist cool containers and ULD solutions to maintain product integrity throughout transit.

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