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About the Kingdom of Morocco

Some Facts

Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is an islamic country located in North Africa.

It has a coast on the Atlantic Ocean that reaches past the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean Sea. Morocco has international borders with Algeria to the east, Spain to the north (a water border through the Strait and land borders with two small Spanish autonomous cities, Ceuta and Melilla), and Mauritania to the south via its Western Saharan territories.

Morocco is the only country in Africa that is not currently a member of the African Union. However, it is a member of the Arab League, Arab Maghreb Union, Francophonie, Organization of the Islamic Conference, Mediterranean Dialogue group, and Group of 77. It is also a major non-NATO ally of the United States.

On November 18, 2010, Morocco celebrated the 54th anniversary of its independence. Morocco recovered its political independence from France on March 2, 1956, and on April 7, France officially relinquished its protectorate. Through agreements with Spain in 1956 and 1958, Moroccan control over certain Spanish-ruled areas was restored, though attempts to claim other Spanish colonial possessions through military action were less successful. The internationalized city of Tangier was reintegrated with the signing of the Tangier Protocol on October 29, 1956 (see Tangier Crisis). Hassan II became King of Morocco on March 3, 1961. His early years of rule would be marked by political unrest. The Spanish enclave of Ifni in the south was reintegrated to the country in 1969. Morocco annexed the Western Sahara during the 1970s after demanding its reintegration from Spain since independence, but final resolution on the status of the territory remains unresolved. (See History of Western Sahara.)

Political reforms in the 1990s resulted in the establishment of a bicameral legislature in 1997. Morocco was granted Major non-NATO ally status by the United States in June 2004 and has signed free trade agreements with the United States and the European Union.

General guidelines

When operating in the Kingdom of Morocco, please observe the following general IVAO Morocco rules:

Frequency
Whenever practicable, 122.800 and 121.500 should be continuously monitored unless another frequency (ATC station for example) is more appropriate.

Altitudes
All altitudes are above mean sea level (AMSL) in feet.

  • Transition altitude: 3300ft unless stated otherwise (5000ft in Agadir for example).
  • Transition level: Dependant on the Transition Altitude and the local pressure setting at the time.

Squawk codes
The following codes are allocated for use by pilots, without direction from ATC for the purposes specified. Use these codes unless ATC instruct otherwise:

  • Code 7700 - Aircraft Emergency
  • Code 7600 - Radio Failure
  • Note, the code 7500 (hi jack) is NOT to be used on the IVAO Network
  • Code 2000 - When entering UK airspace from an adjacent region when no SSR code has been assigned
  • Code 7000 - When not receiving a service from an ATS unit

Speed restrictions
Do not exceed the 250kts IAS below FL100, unless you have permission from ATC, or the classification of airspace you are flying in means you are exempt from the rule. Military aircraft may also exceed the restriction.

QNH
Altimeter settings are in Hectopascal ( Hpa ) and the standard setting is 1013Hpa (1013.25Hpa to be precise).

No available ATC
Intentions must be broadcast on the Unicom frequency of 122.800

Charts
Charts for Morocco airports are available through the Aeronautical Information Service. Details on how to get charts can be found in the charts section of the website. We strongly recommend you use them.