Departure from Marrakech-Menara airport - tips for a stress-free departure

Departure Marrakesh Airport: What you should know before departure

Depar­ture from Marrakech-Menara Airport has a few pecu­liar­i­ties that have caused stress for many a traveler. 

This arti­cle explains what you need to know to ensure a smooth depar­ture, whether your flight departs at 6 a.m. or late in the evening. 

Marrakesh is not a diffi­cult airport because it is small and manage­able. But some of the proce­dures are unusual — if you know them, you can leave relaxed. Those who don’t know them are under time pres­sure at a counter that they actu­ally wanted to have behind them long ago. 

We have been running the Riad Selouane since 2019 — and have unfor­tu­nately seen guests miss their flight several times during this time because they under­es­ti­mated the special features of the airport. To prevent this from happen­ing to you, we are shar­ing every­thing we have learned during this time here. 

If you would like to find out more about trav­el­ing to Marrakesh, you will find all the impor­tant infor­ma­tion in our arti­cle Arrival at Marrakesh Airport.

Marrakesh is also chang­ing — and we are keep­ing this arti­cle up to date for you. Last revised in April 2026. 

Profilbild Svenja Keller

Meet the author:
Svenja Keller is a german archi­tect from the Black Forest and has been running the Riad Selouane in the medina of Marrakesh since 2019.

Refer­ral links: The links marked with an aster­isk (*) are refer­ral links, also known as affil­i­ate links. This means that if you buy some­thing via such a link, we receive a small commis­sion. There is no addi­tional cost to you, but with your purchase you help us to continue creat­ing useful content for trav­el­ers. Enjoy our stories and “Shukran” for your support!

Impor­tant to know:

Be at the airport 3 hours before departure!

All passen­gers must go to their airline’s check-in desk!

You are not allowed to export dirhams!

How early should you be at Marrakesh airport?

For inter­na­tional flights, plan to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before depar­ture.

This is not over­cau­tion. It is simply the real­ity of this airport. Unfor­tu­nately, part of this real­ity is that some­times you only need 30 minutes from arrival at the airport to the gate — and then have to wait more than 2 hours. It is very diffi­cult to predict when the airport will be busy and when it will be slow. 

If you are on one of the early low-cost flights — Ryanair and easy­Jet regu­larly depart between 6:00 and 10:00 a.m. — and do not have prior­ity board­ing, you should allow 3.5 hours.

In our expe­ri­ence, depar­tures on Satur­day or Sunday are always asso­ci­ated with longer wait­ing times, just like during the Christ­mas or Easter vaca­tions or at the end of Ramadan.

marrakesch menara terminal abflug
The depar­ture termi­nal at Marrakesh Airport

If you have prior­ity check-in, such as easy­Jet Plus, you will need less time at the check-in counter, but even here I have already waited over 45 minutes.

I myself regu­larly fly the Marrakesh — Basel route with easy­Jet and have already made it from leav­ing the riad to the gate in 35 minutes — but I have also needed 3.5 hours and was only at the gate when board­ing was almost finished. Unfor­tu­nately, it is impos­si­ble to make a bind­ing state­ment about wait­ing times at the airport — so our recom­men­da­tion is to be at the airport 3 hours before depar­ture, even if this some­times means long wait­ing times at the gate. 

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What do I do with my remaining dirhams?

The Moroc­can dirham is a closed currency and may not be offi­cially exported. If you have any dirhams left at the end of your stay, you should exchange them before you leave. 

Impor­tant: You will need the orig­i­nal receipt for your exchange in dirhams — with­out this, the exchange office may refuse the trans­ac­tion. If you no longer have your receipt, you can still try, but you will not be enti­tled to a refund. 

The exchange offices in the city usually offer better exchange rates than the Bureau de Change at the airport. As you lose money every time you exchange back, it is better not to exchange too much at once. 

wechselstube marrakesch flughafen abflug
Money Exchange in the depar­ture lounge

The bureau de change at the airport is located in the public depar­ture hall next to the check-in coun­ters. You should there­fore plan to exchange your money before you queue for secu­rity checks. 

Small resid­ual amounts of a few hundred dirhams are gener­ally not objected to at customs. Anyone carry­ing larger sums risks problems. 

You cannot exchange Dirhams outside of Morocco, no bank takes or carries Dirhams.

As an alter­na­tive to exchang­ing your money back, you can pay any outstand­ing amounts for tourist taxes, meals or trans­fers in dirhams in most riads — or leave a tip for the staff.

A little tip: there are food stalls and snack bars on every corner in Marrakesh. If you still have time and a few dirhams to spare before your depar­ture, you can grab a snack at one of the numer­ous street food stalls, which is certainly better than anything you can get at the airport. 

The checkpoints for international flights

Anyone depart­ing from Marrakesh does not simply pass through a secu­rity check and be done with it. The proce­dure for inter­na­tional flights looks like this: 

The large depar­ture hall has several entrances, it does­n’t matter which one you take.

The baggage check at the entrance to the airport mentioned in older travel guides has been dropped since fall 2025 — this saves the first queue. 

flughafen marrakesch abflug terminal departure
The depar­ture lounge

The check-in coun­ters are located on the left-hand side of the build­ing. Royal Air Maroc has self-check-in kiosks on the right-hand side of the hall, but these only work for trav­el­ers with hand baggage — please check with RAM in advance whether you can use these kiosks.

Please note: there is no luggage stor­age at Marrakesh airport. If you want to spend a last morn­ing in the city, you should leave your suit­case at the hotel or riad in advance — most accom­mo­da­tions allow you to do this with­out any prob­lems even after check-out.

1. check-in counter: All passen­gers have to go to their airline’s check-in counter — regard­less of whether they have hand baggage, online check-in or time pres­sure. This is the point that most often causes stress. 

This means that even if you don’t have a suit­case to check in, you have to queue at the check-in desks. Inci­den­tally, hand baggage is checked for the permit­ted number and size, espe­cially by low-cost airlines. 

Older travel guides still refer to the printed board­ing pass and the stamp require­ment — this has been offi­cially abol­ished, but in real­ity it is currently still the case that you need a printed board­ing pass from the airline. This also varies from airline to airline — but you MUST go to the check-in counter, other­wise you run the risk of miss­ing your flight. We hope that this require­ment will be removed in the future, but for now it is still necessary. 

There is an extra counter for sports baggage and special baggage, but you should also go to the normal check-in first. 

There are staff in front of the check-in queue who regu­late admis­sion and let prior­ity passen­gers through sepa­rately. Ask here how you should proceed with special baggage, as this varies from airline to airline. 

If you are really short of time, you can also ask these employ­ees for help. Whether or not you will be able to get there faster depends on the employ­ee’s mood on the day, but it’s worth a try. 

After check-in, cross the large depar­ture hall and proceed towards the secu­rity checkpoint. 

2. board­ing pass check: This is a two-stage check — first a member of staff checks that you have a board­ing pass, then the board­ing pass is scanned by machine. So there are two queues, but this is usually quite quick. If you have not been to the check-in counter, you will now be sent back, which is the point at which time becomes crit­i­cal for many people. 

Customs check: On the way to the secu­rity check, you will pass customs. You may be checked here, but you will usually be waved through. You are not allowed to take any dirhams out of Morocco, you must exchange every­thing back before depar­ture. If it is a few hundred dirhams, nobody will say anything, but more than that can lead to prob­lems. Wartezeiten entste­hen hier nur, wenn Sie kontrol­liert werden. 

Unfor­tu­nately, there is no sepa­rate Fast Track for the secu­rity check in Marrakesh for Prior­ity guests such as Easy­Jet Plus card hold­ers with Speedy Boarding.

3. secu­rity check This is followed by the clas­sic hand baggage check. The usual rules apply. Here, too, the wait­ing time can be long. A member of staff will brief you — some­times women and men are sepa­rated, some­times not, depend­ing on the staff present. Depend­ing on how busy the airport is, the wait­ing time here can be up to an hour. 

4. pass­port control Morocco is not a Schen­gen state, so pass­ports are checked and stamped for flights to Europe. As the computer systems work quite slowly, the wait­ing time here can be up to an hour, depend­ing on the volume of traffic. 

5. stamp check: After pass­port control, please do not put your pass­port away yet — the stamp will be checked again. You can simplify the proce­dure if you show your pass­port to the employee with the stamp open on the side with the stamp. Normally this check is quick, but if you are running late, 5 minutes is a long time to wait. 

Five points, each with its own queue. If you keep that in mind, you’ll under­stand why two hours can be too little. 

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National flights and flights via Casablanca

Some connec­tions to Europe are via Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca — this means a domes­tic flight from Marrakesh. The proce­dure differs only slightly: only pass­port control is omit­ted for domes­tic depar­tures. Check-in and baggage check-in usually close one hour before depar­ture for domes­tic flights. 

Allow suffi­cient time for the trans­fer in Casablanca — you will go through inter­na­tional pass­port control there and may have to check in your luggage again.

As I have never taken a domes­tic flight in Morocco myself, I unfor­tu­nately cannot report from my own expe­ri­ence. However, I hear from my guests that you need to allow almost as much time as for inter­na­tional flights. 

How long does it take to get from the hotel to Marrakesh airport?

Marrakech-Menara Airport is located around 6 kilo­me­ters south­west of the city center. It takes 15 to 20 minutes by taxi in normal traf­fic. Theoretically. 

The prob­lem for guests in the medina: there are no taxis in the narrow streets of the old town. They first have to walk with their luggage to an exit of the medina that is acces­si­ble to vehi­cles. This takes time, which is often under­es­ti­mated in the stress of departure. 

The traf­fic in Marrakesh can also cost you a lot of time. Espe­cially on Satur­day evenings, when many Marrakchis are out and about, or during rush hour, the jour­ney from the medina to the airport takes 45 minutes or more. 

wie lange vor abflug am flughafen marrakesch
Traf­fic jam in the medina

From the hotels in the Marrakesh area, it can take consid­er­ably longer depend­ing on traffic. 

We are happy to give our guests at the Riad Selouane a specific recom­men­da­tion as to when they should leave — just ask us.

Transfer from the hotel in the medina to the airport

There are several options for getting to the airport:

Trans­fer via your hotel: The most reli­able and conve­nient option for Medina guests. A member of the hotel staff will help you with your luggage and take you to the near­est exit from the medina, where the driver will be wait­ing for you. The hotel will know when you need to leave and you will arrive at the airport stress-free. Depend­ing on the loca­tion of the hotel in the medina, the trans­fer costs 15 — 30 euros and saves you time and stress. Fragen Sie spätestens am Vortag Ihrer Abreise im Hotel nach dem Transfer. 

Trans­fer via book­ing portals such as Booking.com or GetYourGuide: Is usually a few euros cheaper than the trans­fer via your hotel — but no one will help you with your luggage, no one will help you find the driver. At many exits of the medina, the driver cannot park and wait for you. You have to get there first and wait for the driver, who can only stop briefly so you can get in — stress­ful and diffi­cult if you don’t know the driver or the vehi­cle. Costs 10–30 euros depend­ing on the loca­tion of the pick-up point in the medina. 

Grand Taxi: at the exit points of the medina there are usually a few grand taxis wait­ing to take you to the airport for 100 — 200 dirhams.

Petit Taxi: The small, beige-colored taxis will take you to the airport for under 100 dirhams — if you can find one. The small taxis are preferred by locals, act as shared taxis and you have to hail them as they pass by. This can work, but usually not within 5 minutes. 

Bus L19: there is a bus from Jemaa el Fna square that will take you to the airport for just a few dirhams. However, you have to walk through the souk to the large square with hand luggage, although the near­est exit of the medina would usually be much closer. We defi­nitely do not recom­mend the bus for our guests! In my opin­ion, the bus is only an option if you have your hotel in close prox­im­ity to the bus stop and are adven­tur­ous. The bus is also not designed for luggage, even with hand luggage it can be diffi­cult if the bus is full. 

Inci­den­tally, there is no Uber in Marrakesh, so there is no need to spon­ta­neously book a ride. Book­ing a trans­fer in advance will there­fore defi­nitely save you time and nerves. 

Espe­cially if you need to get to the airport very early in the morn­ing, you need to arrange a trans­fer in advance. It’s hard to find a taxi spon­ta­neously before 9am. 

From my many years of expe­ri­ence, I advise you to book the trans­fer through your hotel. Even if it is a few euros more expen­sive, it saves you the stress when you need it least. 

A devel­op­ment that is rela­tively new and for which there is still no really prac­ti­ca­ble solu­tion: More and more airlines are offer­ing night flights from Marrakesh, depart­ing after midnight and then land­ing in Europe early in the morn­ing. As most airports in Europe do not allow land­ings until 6 a.m., this means a depar­ture from Marrakesh at 2 or 3 a.m.

For guests in a riad in the medina, this leads to a logis­ti­cal prob­lem — because in most riads, luggage cannot be left in the accom­mo­da­tion until midnight.

There are only a few left-luggage offices, espe­cially in the medina area. Ask your hotel in advance whether you can leave your luggage there until your depar­ture or whether they can recom­mend a left-luggage office. 

Book­ing an extra night and leav­ing in the middle of the night is often the most relaxed solu­tion when you consider the alter­na­tive — hours with heavy luggage in the medina. But you must check with your hotel in advance whether this is possi­ble: smaller hotels and riads in partic­u­lar are not always able to orga­nize a middle-of-the-night departure. 

If you want to enjoy the time before a late flight, you can find inspi­ra­tion for a nice last evening in the medina in our arti­cle on the best restau­rants in Marrakesh.

Looking for a hotel in Marrakesh?

Top loca­tion in the medina, break­fast included, an oasis of peace in the middle of the souks:
The Riad Selouane is the ideal address for your city trip!

Riad Selouane Marrakesh: View into the courtyard and over the roofs to the Ben Youssef Mosque

When does it get crowded at Marrakesh airport?

Marrakesh Airport has been expe­ri­enc­ing strong growth in passen­ger numbers for several years. On some days, up to 10 aircraft land and take off almost simul­ta­ne­ously — this corre­sponds to 1,000 to 1,800 passen­gers being processed at the same time. 

It gets partic­u­larly crowded in the depar­ture area:

  • Early in the morn­ing, when the low-cost flights to Europe take off (07:00–10:00)
  • Satur­day and Sunday evenings, when many planes take off for Europe
  • At the end of the Christ­mas and Easter vaca­tions in Germany, France and Belgium
  • On Islamic holi­days such as Eid el-Kebir or the end of Ramadan, there are some­times excep­tion­ally long wait­ing times at all checkpoints
  • At the end of the French summer vaca­tion, when Moroc­cans living in Europe return home from visit­ing family in Morocco

Offers and services at the airport

In the inter­na­tional termi­nal you will find:

  • Duty-free stores and boutiques
  • Restau­rants and cafés
  • Pearl Lounge
  • Toilets

After pass­port control, take the esca­la­tor up to the termi­nal build­ing. The termi­nal is modern, bright and pleas­antly spacious by Euro­pean standards. 

Just after the first esca­la­tor is a display board: check where your flight is depart­ing from. The A gates are on the same level as the stores, the B gates are one floor below. 

First you pass through the duty free area, followed by a few restau­rants and the gates. 

The depar­ture area is spacious, but the range of services is manageable. 

The small number of seat­ing options is surpris­ing, although there is enough space. For trav­el­ers who have to wait longer, there are unfor­tu­nately no comfort­able loungers or retreat areas. 

marrakech menara airport gate

In the stores and restau­rants at the airport, the prices are often only writ­ten in euros, as you should not actu­ally have any more dirhams due to the export ban. If you still want to get rid of a few remain­ing dirhams, ask before paying — some stores only accept euros. 

There are only a hand­ful of restau­rants, the prices are normal for the airport and the qual­ity is okay. 

We partic­u­larly love the matsuri, which serves sushi on the spot or prepares it to take away.

flughafen marrakesch sushi restaurant

The sushi is fresh and deli­cious, if we have enough time, this is our go-to place.

Boulan­gerie Paul has a large stand with baked goods, sand­wiches and baguettes, which taste very good and are also suit­able as provi­sions for the plane.

La Table du Marché offers sand­wiches, salads and drinks to go, while the small Medina has Moroc­can flat­breads with fillings.

Since the begin­ning of 2026, the popu­lar Bacha Coffee House has had a store in a promi­nent loca­tion. Unfor­tu­nately, no coffee is served, but many vari­eties of flavored coffee are sold in beau­ti­ful deco­ra­tive tins. 

Good coffee is avail­able at the Segafredo Espresso Bar, which also offers panini and pizza. The Star­bucks is hidden behind the esca­la­tors that you take after pass­port control. 

Anyone look­ing for one last souvenir will also find what they are look­ing for: Swiss Arabian sells high-qual­ity choco­late and Maymana fine Moroc­can patis­serie — both are not cheap, but a good choice as a gift.

Two large stores between the duty-free stores offer even more Moroc­can souvenirs such as argan oil, spices, tea and hand­i­crafts, albeit at signif­i­cantly higher prices than in the souk in Marrakesh.

You can bridge a longer wait­ing time in the Relax Station: massages and well­ness treat­ments are offered here — the prices are ambi­tious, but the qual­ity is fine.

There are also several duty free stores in this area, from watches and perfume to jewelry and sunglasses, the whole range is offered except alco­hol, the prices are quite high.

Hudson offers all kinds of things that trav­el­ers need: Maga­zines, charg­ing cables, potato chips and chocolate.

The Pearl Lounge is the only VIP facil­ity at the airport and is acces­si­ble to Busi­ness and First Class passen­gers. It is a sepa­rate area in the termi­nal — if you are look­ing for peace and quiet away from the hustle and bustle, you should know that the noise level is simi­lar to the rest of the terminal. 

The toilets on the upper level are at the far end and are clean and spacious. The toilets on the lower level are also at the very back when viewed from the esca­la­tor. There are often longer wait­ing times here, as there are only a few toilets avail­able. So allow plenty of time. 

On the lower depar­ture level with the B gates, there is an espresso bar and a small bakery with sand­wiches and sweet treats, but no other services worth mention­ing. More unpleas­ant is the fact that there is not enough seat­ing at the gates. Some­times it is very crowded and you can’t find a seat. 

Another tip: The announce­ments at the airport are unfor­tu­nately quite incom­pre­hen­si­ble — don’t rely on the announce­ment or the airline’s app to tell you if your gate changes. It is best to check the display again shortly before board­ing time, as no infor­ma­tion will appear at the gate itself if the gate changes. 

Boarding — a special experience

Another special feature in Marrakesh is the board­ing process: as the weather is usually nice, there is no wait­ing area at the airport. The planes are simply parked in front of the termi­nal, a stair­case is pushed up and you walk from the build­ing to the plane and board. 

To speed things up, board­ing passes are checked early and you have to wait a little longer before you are allowed to board. To be more precise, you some­times have to stand outside the build­ing on the tarmac for 20 or 30 minutes before you can board. In the swel­ter­ing heat, when the sun merci­lessly heats up the tarmac to 50 degrees. When a down­pour falls. When you’ve caught one of the really bad days in Janu­ary and it’s only 7 degrees. You wait outside. Merci­lessly. There is simply no room to wait in the airport. 

So it’s best to be well prepared: have a hat with you in summer and a warm jacket in winter.

marrakesch flughafen rollfeld regen
Board­ing in Marrakesh: even in the rain you have to walk a bit to the plane

Delayed and canceled flights

Like every­where else, there can be flight delays in Marrakesh. Most airlines do their best to avoid or make up for delays. 

The airport in Marrakesh works well and the processes are reli­able and well-rehearsed. The planes usually arrive in Marrakesh with a delay, i.e. the delay does not occur in Morocco. 

Airlines such as easy­Jet require very little time on the ground. The plane often only taxis into park­ing posi­tion when you are already wait­ing on the tarmac and is ready to take off again after 30 minutes. With this tight sched­ule, the airline can’t really speed up the processes, just fly a little faster and make up for the delay. 

Espe­cially in summer, there is a consid­er­able risk of delays on evening flights due to heavy thun­der­storms some­where between Morocco and Central Europe. Staff short­ages among air traf­fic controllers and a lack of national air traf­fic controllers also cause delays. 

In the event of long delays, the airlines issue meal vouch­ers, although these are not valid at all restau­rants in the airport. 

I will never forget a flight home on a hot July evening: four hours wait­ing on the tarmac because of a thun­der­storm, no more land­ing slots in Basel, detour to Geneva planned — but no more land­ing slots there either. In the end, the pilot explained that he and his crew had exceeded the permit­ted work­ing hours and were no longer allowed to fly. All passen­gers had to leave the plane and the flight was canceled. The mood on board was, shall we say, subdued — person­ally, I was secretly glad to have avoided the night bus ride from Geneva to Basel. 

As we had already offi­cially left the coun­try, we were stuck at the gate — for an hour and a half, until an offi­cial got us out of bed and pass­port control was reor­ga­nized. The airline arranged buses and hotel accom­mo­da­tion, and the next after­noon we went home after all. 

This was an excep­tional case — but it shows what can happen.

marrakesch flughafen verspaetung

If you are affected by a flight delay of several hours or a cancel­la­tion, you can claim compen­sa­tion from the airline under certain circumstances. 

It is best to take a few photos of the display boards, screen­shots of the updates in the airline’s app and keep the board­ing pass. It also makes sense to take a screen­shot of your flight status on Flightradar24. You will need these docu­ments in order to claim compensation. 

With most Euro­pean airlines, you can apply for compen­sa­tion directly on the website. If you have prob­lems with compen­sa­tion, you can claim compen­sa­tion via portals such as Flightright. However, bad weather is not usually a reason for compen­sa­tion, nor are reasons beyond the control of the airline or airport. 

olive twig light brown

Anyone who knows Marrakech-Menara Airport knows that the best queue is the one you were prepared for.

Frequently asked questions about arriving in Marrakesh

Here you will find answers to the most frequently asked ques­tions from our guests.

  1. What is the name of Marrakesh airport?

    The city’s only airport is Marrakech-Menara Airport (IATA code: RAK), located approx. 6 kilo­me­ters south­west of the city center. It is the second largest airport in Morocco after Casablanca. 

  2. How long will it take me to get from the city center to the airport?

    Depend­ing on the loca­tion of your hotel, between 20 minutes and an hour. It’s best to ask at your hotel, where they have the latest expe­ri­ence and can give you a specific recommendation. 

  3. How do I get from the medina to the airport?

    A trans­fer orga­nized by your hotel is the most conve­nient solu­tion and will save you a lot of stress. Ask for it at your hotel or riad the day before departure. 

  4. How long before the flight do I have to be at Marrakesh airport?

    We recom­mend arriv­ing at the airport 3 hours before depar­ture. Depend­ing on the number of passen­gers, secu­rity checks may take longer than you think. 

  5. Is there a left-luggage office at Marrakesh Airport?

    No. If you want to spend more time in the city, it’s better to leave your suit­case at your accom­mo­da­tion — most riads and hotels also allow you to do this after check-out. 

  6. Can I export Dirhams from Morocco?

    The Moroc­can dirham is a closed currency — it may not offi­cially be exported from Morocco. In prac­tice, smaller amounts of up to a few hundred dirhams are usually not objected to. If you have larger sums with you, you risk prob­lems at customs control. If you want to exchange dirhams back, you will need the orig­i­nal receipt for your exchange — with­out this, the exchange office may refuse the trans­ac­tion. Exchange your money back in good time in the depar­ture hall before you pass through secu­rity and pass­port control, after which you will no longer be able to exchange money. It is better if you exchange the remain­ing dirhams at an exchange office in the city — the exchange rates are usually better there. 

  7. Is there WLAN at Marrakesh airport?

    Yes, at Marrakech-Menara Airport there is free Wi-Fi in the entire termi­nal, both before and after pass­port control.

  8. Do I have to print out the boarding pass?

    Offi­cially, the oblig­a­tion to present a printed and stamped board­ing pass has been abol­ished. In prac­tice, the situ­a­tion is currently incon­sis­tent: depend­ing on the airline, a paper board­ing pass is either issued or required at the check-in counter. In any case, you must go to your airline’s check-in counter — even if you only have hand baggage and have already checked in online. 

Looking for more information about Marrakesh?

Visit our travel guide to learn more about the sights of Marrakesh and Morocco!

Koutoubia Mosque in Marrakesh
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