VFR flying in Morocco GMTT GMME
 

The last week I flew from Jerez LEJR to both Tangier GMTT and Rabat GMME. I found the experience very interesting, having only flown within EU airspace before.

https://i.imgur.com/i6AJKO6.jpg

It's important to know the VFR routes and always have the ETAs at hand for the numerous position reports the controllers requests. The Route was: LEJR - LINTO (GMMM FIR entry point) - Asilah - Larache - IBDIR - ANIBI - SBI and then straight into RWY 21 at Rabat. Flight time 1:50h

https://i.imgur.com/SiB7wVD.jpg

English was never a problem, they speak well. Rabat Approach was constantly saying "Keep Victor Mike Charlie" and I was like "Where the hell is this Victor Mike Charlie", until I realized he wanted me to keep VMC which is kind of a no-brainer if I'm VFR. I guess they say it to reinforce the fact that they don't have a radar and won't be able to help me if I get into IMC.

Another thing I didn't understand was, after each readback they said "Charlie Charlie", which I had never heard before. Apparently it means "Affirm" or "Roger", not really sure as I think it's not standard R/T. Maybe someone could clarify.

https://i.imgur.com/c5NJ8BZ.jpg
The town of Moulay bou Selham and the nearby lake, along the VFR route

What I didn't like so much is that they control your route to the last inch, there's no freedom to fly as you please as I would in Spain for example. They want you to stick to the VFR routes, it's like flying IFR basically. But other than that, ATC is friendly and helpful, as in most places I've flown to.

At the airport, sometimes they didn't quite understand we were a private flight when they asked for the boarding pass. It's useful to speak some French and say "Vol privé, je suis le pilote". It's a bit annoying that there is no shorter way for General Aviation, you have to go through the terminal building and through exactly the same controls as every other commercial passenger. The Airport Reporting Office is airside both in GMTT and GMME. At least in Spain and Portugal, AROs were located on the landside.

All in all, a very nice experience and I'm glad I took the opportunity of flying to Africa being so close to it. This makes my LogBook a little bit "richer" :)

What experience do you have flying VFR in Morocco (or other Northern African countries)?

In the good old days of HF communication using the morse code, the sending of:

_._. _._. = C C = Charlie Charlie

Was a quick way of saying Affirmative or I have received and understood your message. When HF morse gave way to HF voice, the phrase "Charlie Charlie" continued to be used all over the world. I am retired now but I am sure that "Charlie Charlie" continues to be used in many places to this day.

Thank you for the interesting RT history lesson :)

"What experience do you have flying VFR in Morocco (or other Northern African countries)? "

Um, quite a bit! Glad you enjoyed it, Morocco is relatively easy in the air but the ground bureaucracy is always something of a chore!

Glad you enjoyed it!

Thanks!

Do you happen to be an expat in Morocco?

When going through the terminal in Rabat a nice French pilot helped me get to the flight plans office.

I bet most GA pilots in these countries are foreigners because locals wouldn't afford it...

No, just flown there (and other places) quite a bit. You can Google me if you like! :-)

VFR Private Morocco
 

Hi, thanks for sharing your experience!
I just did a 10-day trip from Paris to Marrakech and back, and it was memorable.

I agree with everything you mentioned in your post. Except for the Charlie-Charlie, which I didn't get as far as I remember. I'm a French speaker with English R/T qualification. Morocco ATC kept switching between French and English with me, it was pretty funny. "Quebec Alpha, do you have the traffic in sight? - Quebec Alpha, affirm, traffic in sight -Quebec Alpha, autorise a l'atterrissage piste 10...".

The main challenge is definitely that Morocco's ATC requires to follow the published VFR routes. For example, when flying from Marrakech to Rabat, when I got close to Ben-Slimane airport (located 15-min SE of Rabat), I requested a direct to Rabat to avoid pretty bad weather with low clouds and rain on the VFR route. The VFR route goes around Rabat on the east side (heading north) and goes way past Rabat before finally heading southwest to Rabat, a 30-minute route going directly into the bad weather.
Every controller I asked refused to allow a direct route, even when I insisted that it was for weather reasons. My option was to land at Ben Slimane.
Of course, the issue was that I wanted to exit Morocco after this landing, so I needed an airport providing both 100LL and immigration. Only Rabat had both 100LL and immigration. Airports around Casablanca had only one of the 2 options, requiring 2 landings to get both - a not-so-practical option.
I therefore decided to continue in the bad weather.
It was doable and still VFR while getting slightly marginal VFR at times, but I would clearly have preferred a direct route.

I actually wrote a post about this with more detail if anyone is interested. I can't post URLs yet. The website is "airtrips dot xyz". Yes, internet runs out of .com domains...

The detail on the xyz site is very good - I am sure it would help others to make a trip to Morocco, and parts are a very good checklist for things.

This is your website I assume?

If would be good if others could add their trips to it.

I would certainly add my trips around the Eastern Caribbean - the last one was St Barths, but regularly fly to Martinique, Bequia, Trinidad etc.

People who come to rent my airplane seem very intimidated by the idea of trips - the detail is the thing that bothers them I think, I will maybe do an information page set out like your website :)

I too am a VFR pilot (day only in this part of the world) - I now have about 255 hours and do maybe 40 minutes per week on average, some weeks no time others six or seven; my longest flight was Ft Lauderdale to Barbados with the longest leg St Croix to Barbados; I do like long trips.