Fly further - it's cheaper
 

I'm planning a trip to Morocco. Afterwards my wife & I plan to visit relatives in UK. One option is Royal Air Maroc. They can bring us (one way per person) from Marrakesh to London on January 3, 2011, for 2633MAD (about €240) including baggage & meal. This seems reasonable, but the plane stops at Casablanca. So I considered getting the train, maybe the famous Marrakesh Express, (or at least a train going along the same line), from Marrakesh to Casablanca, and picking up the same plane at Casablanca. Guess how much we would save in plane fares? Well it would cost me 5377MAD (about €490) from Casablanca despite being less flying. I double checked & these are the cheapest fares, but for some reason Casablanca-London it does not offer a "best fare" economy option, only business class. Does anyone know why? Or any way around this oddity? Economy is fine for us.

PS I wasn't sure whether this should be in Africa forum or a general forum, but I live in Europe & the plane is flying to Europe , so here it is...

Direct flights are often more expensive than flights with a stopover. More demand means they can ask more.
Same with a lot of flights - fly from A to B and pay €600, fly A to C via B and pay €400. But do not be tempted to get off at B on such a ticket.

This seems reasonable, but the plane stops at Casablanca.

The BA flight does that as well, it[s not a great hassel, ....Casablanca isn't really worth the visit...I had one night there when I was in Morocco for 2 weeks, there are many more interesting places to see.

oops! hassel should read hassle!

Have you looked at Ryanair or Easyjet? If they fly where you want to go, their fares can be close to zero.

"This seems reasonable, but the plane stops at Casablanca." My point was that the price is reasonable, but as the plane stops at CMN (Casablanca), & the train fare from Marrakesh to Casablanca is not too much, I was wondering how much cheaper the flight to UK would be from CMN than from Marrakesh. (Plus, I'd usually prefer a rail to a plane journey.) But it seems they only allow business passengers to board at CMN. Probably a marketing decision.