Felly

Hi everyone,

Has anyone ever flown into or out of the Ouarzazate airport? If so, I have three questions.

1. How long is a taxi ride between the airport and the town of Ouarzazate? I'm thinking of flying home from there, but the flight is at 6am, which means I'd need to be there around 4am...oy. I'm trying to figure out at what time I would need to wake up.

2. How difficult would it be to arrange a pick-up from my hotel at 4 in the morning to take me to the airport? Would I be better off sleeping in the airport? Are there hotels closer to the airport?

3. How far is the Ouarzazate airport from Skoura? I keep hearing about lovely-sounding hotels there, but it's a little further away. How long would it take me to get to the airport at an ungodly early hour from there? And would taxis even be available?

Thanks!

wannabefree

Ouarzazate airport is ten minutes from town, and 40 kilometers from Skoura (one hour drive at the most)you can easily arrange your transfer to the airport through the hotel reception, it's safer.

Felly

Thanks so much!

sandi

I'd check when the airport opens. Even if an Int'l flight*, and you're scheduled to depart at 6am, you may only need to be there at 5am.

*Home to where? As most int'l flight fly thru CAS or Tangiers for your connection.

Felly

Good point. I didn't realize airports had opening hours, but what you say makes sense. So the two-hour in advance arrival time rule isn't universal?

Home would be NYC. There's an 11:30 Royal Air Maroc flight from Casa to JFK that the 6am Ouarzazate to Casa flight would connect with.

sandi

Absolutely, even though you're connecting to an Int'l flight and most airports in Western countries would require a 2/hr check-in, your 6am flight is probably a small plane from a small airport. Check when the airport opens as actually you're taking what we would call a "commuter" flight (local/short-haul). Probably 5am is the earliest you'd have to be at the airport.

timsaah

Sorry to jump in, Ouarzazate airport is a very small one. you probabluy need to be there less than one hour before your flight is schedueled.
A taxi ride from one of the hotels in Ouarzazate to the airport is less than 5 minutes. you can even walk to the airport if you have no luggage.
Taxi transfers early mornings are possible by asking the front desk clerks to arrange one for you.
I would not recommend spending the night before in Skoura, cause, hey, remember, you're fluying back to New york, any delay or incident could make you wait a couple more days in Casablanca for the next flight. There are also somegood hotels in Ouarzazate that you might enjoy ( The berber palace).

smgapp

We also took the 6 am flight out of Ouarzazate in July and then the Royal air Maroc flight to NY from Casa on the same day. We stayed at Hotel Belere in Ouarzazate- had a 4:30 am pick up- at the airport in 10 minutes-we had to wait for the airline personnel to show up to check our bags in (I think they showed up shortly after 5 am- so I don't think you need to show up 2 hours before the flight- you will have to wait for the airline personnel). There was a small gift shop open next to the airline check in counter for last minute gifts (reasonable prices are marked on items but they still barter there)and a coffee shop open that is on the upper level. One tip- make sure you get your passport stamped before you board your flight in the Ouarzazate airport- if you don't, you will have to go wait in line in Casablanca for a stamp. For some reason, the passport people waved us on and did not stamp our passports- you have to show a departure passport stamp when leaving the country-the Casablanca airport people kept asking why we did not have the passport stamped in Ouarzazate. We later read in our tour info that we were supposed to get the stamp in Ouarzazate.

The longest wait was in Casablanca waiting for the 11:30 am flight to NYC. Some shops did not open for a few hours so we just sat around and waited in the one smoky cafe that is open early...