Morocco's international airports: codes, cities and what each is best for

Morocco's international airports that matter to most visitors are six: Casablanca Mohammed V (CMN), Marrakech Menara (RAK), Agadir Al Massira (AGA), Fes Saïs (FEZ), Tangier Ibn Battouta (TNG) and Rabat-Salé (RBA). Casablanca is the long-haul hub, Marrakech the main leisure gateway. They sit between 6 km and about 30 km from their city centres.

Morocco's international airports at a glance

Casablanca Mohammed V (CMN): the hub

Mohammed V is the country's largest airport and the base of the national carrier. If you fly from North America, the Gulf or sub-Saharan Africa, you will most likely land here. A train station sits under the terminal, with services into Casablanca in roughly 30 to 45 minutes at the time of writing. From Casablanca you change for trains to Rabat, Fes, Tangier and Marrakech.

Many travellers land at CMN with no plan to see Casablanca at all. Marrakech is 220 km south, about 2 h 30 by motorway. A private transfer from Casablanca Airport to Marrakech costs €110 per sedan, €130 per minivan and €180 per minibus. The train is cheaper for one or two people but involves a change in the city. We compare both in Casablanca airport to Marrakech by train, bus or private transfer.

Marrakech Menara (RAK): the leisure gateway

Menara handles the largest share of European holiday flights, including many low-cost routes. It is unusually close to town: 6 km and around 15 minutes to the medina. There is no train at the airport. The railway station is in the new town, and no line continues south or west, so Essaouira, Agadir, Ouarzazate and Merzouga are reached by road only.

Choose RAK when Marrakech is your first or last stop, or when your trip is built around the Atlas valleys, Agafay or the desert road over the Tizi n'Tichka pass (2,260 m).

Agadir Al Massira (AGA): the Atlantic coast

Al Massira lies inland, about 25 km south-east of Agadir. It serves the beach hotels of the bay and the surf villages to the north. Taghazout is 45 km and 50 minutes from the terminal, €35 by sedan. Agadir has no railway, so every onward journey is by road. Details are in our guide to getting from Agadir airport to Taghazout.

Flights here are more seasonal than at Marrakech. In winter the choice is wide, in the shoulder months it can thin out. Marrakech, 250 km and about 3 h away by motorway, is the usual fallback.

Fes Saïs (FEZ): the north-centre

Saïs is a compact airport 15 km south of Fes, 25 minutes from the medina gates. A sedan costs €18. Flight choice is narrower than at Marrakech and concentrated on European low-cost routes. Its real value is for one-way trips: arrive in Marrakech, travel north, leave from Fes, and you save 530 km of backtracking.

The medina of Fes is closed to cars, so the last stretch to your riad is on foot from a gate such as Bab Boujloud or Bab Rcif.

Tangier Ibn Battouta (TNG): the far north

Tangier's airport is at Boukhalef, about 15 km south-west of the centre. It suits trips to the Strait coast, Asilah, Tetouan and the Rif. Chefchaouen has no airport of its own and Tangier is the nearest gateway with a good choice of flights: 125 km and 2 h 15 by road, €90 per sedan with the transfer from Tangier Airport to Chefchaouen. The city is also the northern end of the high-speed rail line to Rabat and Casablanca.

Rabat-Salé (RBA): the quiet capital

Rabat-Salé sits across the Bou Regreg river in Salé, about 10 km from central Rabat. It has far fewer flights than Casablanca, which is the point: queues are short and the drive to town is brief. If a direct flight exists from your home airport and Rabat is on your route, it is worth taking. Otherwise Casablanca, about 1 h 30 away by road, is the realistic alternative.

Smaller airports worth knowing

Several regional airports also receive some international flights, often seasonal: Essaouira-Mogador (ESU), Ouarzazate (OZZ), Nador (NDR), Oujda (OUD), Errachidia (ERH) and Dakhla (VIL). Schedules change from one season to the next. Treat them as a bonus if the dates match, not as the base of a plan.

Which airport for which trip

• Marrakech and the south: RAK first, CMN as the long-haul alternative.
• Surf and beach: AGA, or RAK plus a 3 h drive.
• Imperial cities: FEZ, RBA or CMN, depending on direction.
• Chefchaouen and the north: TNG.
• A full north-south crossing: fly into one airport and out of another.

For help weighing flight prices against ground travel, see which airport to fly into for Morocco. We pick up at all six airports at a fixed price per vehicle, paid to the driver on arrival. You can compare every transfer from Morocco's airports or book your airport pickup online.