Royal Air Maroc is a weird airline. Their lows are low and their highs....are not that high. Despite this, they still provide a good experience in some ways, leaving me to conclude that the airline is in the midst of an identity crisis. With several longhaul flights, a solid wide-body fleet, and affordable prices, RAM is in a position where they can either step up the plate or withdraw from the game and it seems like they can't fully make up their mind.

Join me today as I braved the skies (and the Airside Bus) to try Royal Air Maroc's 787-8 from Casablanca (CMN) to Washington D.C. (IAD). I opted to fly in economy class as I truly believe that an airline is only as good as their worst offering. Let's dive into the flight to see if I made a horrible mistake.

Casablanca's Ground experience

This was my second flight ever with Royal Air Maroc, and as per tradition it seems, the ground experience was fairly disastrous. I came in on an international flight from Paris and was connecting onward to this DC flight, so I didn’t get to see RAM’s check-in area at CMN. However, judging by the rest of the airport, I’m sure it was nothing to write home about.

However, it is worth noting when I did check-in at paris for both that flight and this one, I had a negative interaction with a fairly hostile check-in agent who attempted to force me to check my bags because the plane is “too small,” depsite me boarding in the first boarding group. I won’t include anymore details about this here for this review since it is technically part of the first flight but this lack of communication skills and proper customer service is something that continues to show up during this flight segment.

After clearing transit security, I was dumped into the A gates section of Casablanca’s Terminal 1. I spent my 5.5 hour layover walking all over the airport there just isn’t much to note. It was about average in most areas, though it could’ve used more seating. I also struggled to find power outlets, especially in the older A gates area where my flight was set to depart from.

My ground experience was spiced up when I received this notification an hour before boarding:

The word “rescheduled” freaked me out at first until I saw that it was only a 15 minute delay. Oddly enough this delay was never reflected online or on any departure boards before the flight. Even RAM’s app wouldn’t show the delay after it sent the notification.

This is not entirely surprising since RAM’s IT is a little…subpar. I couldn’t complete check in or change my seat online days before the flight because I couldn’t get the app or website to work at all. Their app is fairly useless for much of anything as most things I tried to do on it would not work.

Boarding and Bus Transfer

I approached my gate are about 45 minutes and was met with an odd security set-up blocking entry into gates A1 and A2. My flight to IAD was departing from A1 and RAM’s flight to JFK was leaving from A2. To enter the gate are, passengers had to undergo a security check (which sometimes happens on international flights to the US). This is understandable and not at all an issue, however, RAM’s ground staff made it really confusing. Despite there being a lot of passengers already in the secured gate area when I arrived, they seemed to be strictly turning away most people from entering. It took me about 2-3 minutes before I could get a staff members attention, and when I did, she looked over my boarding pass and permitted me to enter. I have no idea why so many people were being denied entry, perhaps they were at the wrong gate? I didn’t make a lot of sense at all. After a security officer looked through my bag, I was allowed in where I found a grand total of zero available seats and about 50 passengers already sitting on the ground.

One of the largest weaknesses of Royal Air Maroc was communication. It turns out making up weird baggage rules and randomly denying people from entering the gate with no explanation given was just the beginning. There was a grand total of 1 gate announcement for both mine and the JFK flight, and that singular announcement was a boarding agent standing in front of the JFK flight boarding lanes and saying “boarding now” without any sort of PA system or Microphone. Since nobody could hear, everyone freaked out and stormed the boarding gate for both the JFK and IAD flights (even though our IAD flight had about 20 minutes left until boarding).

After boarding we walked down the dark corridor (with broken lights) and down some stairs to the dreaded Airside Busses. The lucky passengers going to JFK got a jetway while we were stuck with what was arguably the hottest and slowest busses of all time. A truly masterful combination. As if boarding wasn’t already pointless, the bus made it completely worthless as everyone funneled into the same two busses. We sat in the busses for around 40 minutes before we drove off. The hot summer sun beating down on the ancient bus created a sort of oven. I was genuinely worried someone would pass out from heat stroke but thankfully everyone lived to tell the tale (I think).

The biggest issue about the bus was a lack of communication. There were never any updates as to what was happening or if we would ever leave. At some point, one gentleman got up and started questioning one of the RAM employees standing by the door and an entire yelling match ensued — demonstrating the tenseness of the situation.

Though the bus was an unfortunate experience, I was much better once I laid my eyes on our beautiful 787. There is something highly unique about getting to board a wide body plane with stairs. As one could reasonably expect at this point, there was no order whatsoever as people charged up the stairs to get in the plane.

When I got to the door, one of the flight attendants took my boarding pass, then help up his hand saying “wait” with no smile or greeting. I could tell he asked me to wait so that congestion could clear in the aisles but there are more professional ways he could have communicated that. At one point I gestured toward my boarding pass so I could get it back while waiting and he shifted it away from me! Needless to say, Royal Air Maroc didn’t deliver the best first impression in any way.

I was thrilled when I finally arrived at my seat 11D, located in the second row of economy in the middle section. RAM’s economy class cabin is in a typical 3-3-3 configuration. Notably, there is no premium economy on these jets. I appreciated how RAM included a blanket and pillow at the seat for each passenger. The pillow was alright but the blanket was surprisingly comfortable and warm for economy.

One of the first things that stoop out to me about the inside of the cabin is just how dated it seemed compared to most other 787’s. Despite being 9 years old, it appeared heavily used and not well maintained. It didn’t help that the cabin was also poorly clean, as evidenced by the state of my tray table when I unfolded it for the first time to take a photo.

Seat Analysis

Once we hit cruising altitude, I had more time to analyze the seat itself. Despite all my criticisms of the cabin, I found the legroom to be pretty good, and things never felt cramped. I’m only 5’6’’ so I find most cabins comfortable in economy, but this one seemed on the more spacious side. What wasn’t comfortable was the headrest on the seat. It was somewhat adjustable but felt hard as a wood plank. The seats also have little to no padding due to the weird sticky leather material RAM opted to install. I’m guessing its more durable than other seat upholsteries but it didn’t exactly result in a pleasant experience.

The rest of the seat was fairly barebones. There was no cupholder or device holder. The seat-back pocket was functional enough and the tray table was up to industry standards (aside from the cleanliness issues). The fun wallpaper on the front of the cabin was also a nice touch.

The seat had a bright and responsive IFE screen with a better selection of content than I expected. There were also USB A ports for charging but no A/C power outlets.

About 30 minutes into the flight, they made an announcement apologizing for the IFE system not working. Oddly enough mine and my seat-mates were working perfectly fine, but I did see a few pax whose were not working. The crew restarted the entire system, which temporarily knocked out screen but eventually fixed them all. I was impressed with the crew for their dedication to fix it as they all spent a good 15-20 minutes in one of the forward galleys working on the issue.

Amenity Analysis

The amenities on-board this flight were a pleasant surprise. They weren't world class but they definitely elevated what was a questionable flight experience up to this point.

When I got to my seat I was greeted with a bright purple blanket and a pillow. The pillow was alright but the blanket was surprisingly comfortable and warm for economy.

After take off the crew came around passing out small amenity kits which was comprised of a gold eye mask and socks inside a small reusable bag. This is not typical for international economy, and I thought it was a fun gesture. The gold color scheme seemed more akin to first class rather than economy. The crew also passed out earbuds to every passenger which were pretty horrible but nice to have. Maybe they could've handed these out before departure so passengers could use the IFE during taxi and takeoff?

There was no Wi-Fi available on board which was disappointing for a long haul flight on a relatively modern 787.

Mid-Flight Experience

The first meal was served about 45 minutes after take off (it was delayed due to the IFE issue). We were presented with three options which is impressive compared to many airlines who only offer two in economy.

The chicken and its accompaniments were not bad at all. My tray contained the main course, a bread roll, a dish of rice, and a small cake. Far from fine dining but it got the job done. I was happy the crew honored my request for two drinks, though the orange juice RAM serves tasted more like orange colored water with a little sugar.

I like how they served the meal container in a plastic purple dish on top of the tray — which made the whole thing feel slightly more premium.

My seat-mate chose the Salmon and generously let me get a photo of his meal. The accompaniments were the same as mine, with only the main course being different.

Unfortunately — due to my partially broken and sloped tray table — I had to use lighting fast reflexes to catch my entire meal from spilling into my lap on multiple occasions.

The crew came around after the meal offering everyone coffee or tea. Once service began, things moved along quickly, and I was impressed with the crew for their increased professionalism after a rough start.

Mid-Flight Experience

My fairly chaotic day calmed down significantly after the meal service when the crew took advantage of the Dreamliner’s adjustable windows and mood lighting to create an optimal environment for resting.

Any positivity I had towards the crew during the first part of the journey did not last. For most of the flight, they opted to spend their time loudly chatting in the galley and provided no service whatsoever. With nearly 6 hours between meal services, the crew could have come around offering water at least once. I don’t expect proactive refills or frequent drink service in economy, but the lack of any water service left a bad taste in my mouth. It seems the surprise amenity kit from earlier was merely a ploy to distract passengers from the fact the rest of the experience would be barebones. Touché Royal Air Maroc.

Despite having minimal drinking water, I still wound up using the planes lavatories. Even though I loved the above toilet mood lighting — it didn't distract me from how dirty the floor area was.

On my way out, I spotted a large bottle of water and some cups in the galley. I walked up and cautiously poured myself some before noticing a bunch of dirty looks from the crew. Perhaps this was not intended to be self serve? Or maybe they were just frustrated I disturbed their galley party. Who knows.

At some point during the flight, I reclined the seat and successfully took a nap. This was due in part to the seats solid recline coupled with the impressive blanket. Though I wasn't initially positive about the seat — it was good enough for a nap — which says something.

As the flight continued, I noticed a lot of trash building up in the aisles of the plan. I'm not fully sure if this is more a fault of the crew or passengers. On the one hand, the crew didn't come by picking up any trash for the hours between meal srrvices. However, passengers also should not be dumping their trash in the aisles of the plane.

Pre-Landing Meal

The crew came around an hour before landing with a pre-landing meal consisting of a cold chicken sandwich, muffin, and some yogurt. The sandwich was tasteless but still far from the worst thing I've been served on a plane.

Final Verdict

Did I make a horrible mistake flying Royal Air Maroc's economy? Not exactly. The ground experience at Casablanca was genuinely rough, and the 40-minute sauna of a bus is something I'd rather not repeat. Communication was the weakest link throughout, from the boarding pass shuffle at the door to the six hours of silence between meals while the crew hung out in the galley. Add a sticky, unpadded seat, a broken tray table, and a cabin that looks far older than nine years, and there's a lot working against this airline.

That being said, the amenity kit, the three meal choices, the crew spending twenty minutes actually fixing the IFE...those aren't nothing. That's the identity crisis in a nutshell: RAM keeps showing you flashes of an airline that cares, then immediately undercuts them.

Would I book it again? Honestly, yes if the price is right and I'm connecting through Casablanca anyway. You're getting a 787 with better amenities than most European carriers hand out in economy, and the fares reflect the compromises. Just go in knowing the ground experience will test you, pack your own water, and don't count on anyone telling you what's happening. If you want a smooth, predictable long-haul, pay up and fly somebody else. If you want a decent seat on a Dreamliner for cheap and you can roll with some chaos, Royal Air Maroc will get you there.