Trying to get home from Morocco on Royal Air Moroc

January 2, 2008 10:58 AM

Stuck in Morocco. Does Royal Air Moroc take standby passengers?

I'm travelling with two kids in Morocco and we had decided to extend our stay. At the airport when we arrived they said they changed the ticket but they didn't so we lost our flight. We visited the office of RAM today and they said they're booked until the 19th and when we asked about standby acted as if they'd never heard of it. Has anyone flown standby on Air Maroc?

posted by katestap to travel & transportation (3 comments total)

Sounds like a nightmare with two kids. Haven't flown standby with Air Maroc. But FWIW, here are their timetables. A google search turned up this customer service number Royal Air Maroc 1800-344-6726 (which works, I just checked).

That is a US number which will work from outside the US if you put 00 in front of it. You will be charged international rates for the call though. Hope it works out.

Incidentally, you might want to let us know what city you're trying to fly out of, and where you're trying to get to, because there may be other options.
posted by tiny crocodile at 11:59 AM on January 2, 2008

Apparently "stand-by" is also called "J-1" in French for reasons not clear to me. From this page:

Ce sont des vols proposés par les compagnies à des prix très intéressant car l’embarquement des voyageurs se fait à la dernière minute selon la disponibilité des places. Cette pratique est peu utilisée en France contrairement aux pays anglo-saxons.

My rusty French translation, assisted by Google:

These are flights offered by companies at very good prices because passenger boarding is done at the last minute depending on the availability of seats. This practice is little used in France as opposed to Anglo-Saxon countries.

So, it sounds rare, but it might be worth trying to call it J-1 to see if they know what you're speaking of.
posted by desjardins at 12:46 PM on January 2, 2008

I have no evidence, but I have a hunch that the J in J-1 stands for Jour, and perhaps "Jour 1" is something like "same day." In any case, best wishes for a safe return home.
posted by desjardins at 12:54 PM on January 2, 2008