There has been a rush on plane tickets for Morocco since the Moroccan national football team qualified for the final of the Africa Cup following a nail-biting semi-final against Nigeria on Wednesday evening. Fatih Anaz of the De Trekvogel travel agency in Antwerp says that Moroccan Flemings are buying plane tickets to Morocco en masse to watch the Africa Cup final in the stadium or to celebrate the (possible) victory on the streets of Rabbat. As a result, the price for plane tickets to the Moroccan capital have risen “from 90 euro to more than 300 euro”.
Moroccan Flemings are buying airline tickets en masse to go and watch the Africa Cup final
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At the De Trekvogel travel agency, they had been keeping an eye on the price of flights to Rabat and Casablanca over the past few days. The travel agency’s Fatih Anaz told VRT News that "We knew that we would receive a lot of requests for tickets if Morocco qualified for the Africa Cup final”.
That's exactly what has happened. Morocco qualified for the final after extra time and a penalty shoot-out saw them get the better of Nigeria. Sunday’s final will be on home turf and the whole of Morocco and the large Moroccan diaspora in countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands are 100% behind their team. This is reflected in a big surge in demand for plane tickets to Rabbat and Casablanca.
“We received a huge number of requests and that is being reflected in the prices. A one-way flight to go and watch the semi-final cost 90 euro, but now the price has risen to more than 300 euro”.
But this hasn't stopped Moroccan Flemings from wanting to go to cheer on the Moroccan team. “All flights from Belgium and the Netherlands to Morocco are completely full. We already have to fly people via Germany or Paris. Direct return flights are also full. They can still fly back via a stopover in Spain.”
In the stadion or on the streets?
When booking their flights through De Trekvogel, various reasons are given for wish to fly to Morocco. “There are a lot of people that have already bought a ticket for the stadium and are still looking for a plane ticket.” Other football fans are hoping to get a ticket for the match once they are in Rabbat. “It's not every day that Morocco will play the final of a tournament on home soil. Many people don't want to miss that. So they are hoping to get a ticket”.
A lot of money is changing hands on the black market with some paying as much as 2,000 euro for a ticket for the final.