Aéroport Marrakech Menara
Marrakech Menara sits about 6 km south-west of the city centre, so Jemaa el-Fna is a short drive from the arrivals kerb. It is run by ONDA, Morocco's airports authority, and in 2025 it handled 10.2 million passengers, 10% more than the year before and the first time it passed ten million. ONDA spent 2025 reworking the building under its Aéroports 2030 plan: security scanners came out of the entrances, the waiting areas grew and new departure areas and e-gates are on the way. What is worth knowing is how the taxi desk works, what to do about dirhams and where a car can and cannot take you in the Medina.
The 30-second version
Have your passport ready and check the officer stamps it: you need that stamp to leave. Change a little money at one of the exchange desks before you walk out, since the dirham is a closed currency you cannot buy properly at home. For a taxi, follow the signs to the kech.cab desk at the exit of arrivals, pay the fixed fare by card or cash, take your ticket and find the taxi number on it: no haggling. Staying in the Medina, expect the car to stop at the nearest gate or square, and ask your riad to meet you there.
Book a private transfer
Booked with
A driver meets you in arrivals with your name on a sign, at a fixed price agreed when you book. Booked and paid with Welcome Pickups through our partner Travelpayouts; we may earn a commission.
International flights: Priority Pass describes Terminal 1 as the international terminal
The terminal with the Aspire Lounge, on the second floor after security and passport control, opposite Gate A3. ONDA lists 15 international gates and 58 check-in desks across the airport; under its Aéroports 2030 plan it is rebuilding the departure area, adding boarding gates, a new boarding lounge and e-gates.
Check the departures board and your boarding pass for your terminal
ONDA does not publish which airlines use Terminal 2, and lists two domestic gates alongside the 15 international ones without saying which terminal they are in. It describes a single arrivals terminal: the kech.cab taxi desk is at its exit and the taxi station on the forecourt.
Every arrival from abroad goes through police passport control. UK passports need no visa for a tourist stay of up to 90 days; the passport must be valid for at least three months after you arrive and must not be damaged. EU passports need no visa either: France says your passport must cover the whole stay, Spain and Germany ask for six months' validity, and none of them accepts a national identity card on its own. The US State Department asks for six months' validity on entry and a blank page for the stamp; Japanese travellers should check their foreign ministry's advice before flying. Whatever your passport, make sure the officer stamps it: travellers without an entry stamp have had trouble leaving.
ONDA moved the security scanners away from the entrances in March 2025, enlarged the arrivals waiting area and reorganised the control zones for international and domestic flights, with more staff and equipment. It says the average wait dropped below an hour, and it is aiming for half an hour.
Customs checks are strict. Declare anything that may be prohibited, taxed or subject to duty, and foreign currency worth 100,000 dirhams or more. Bringing in a drone without prior authorisation is banned, and customs confiscate it.
The dirham is a closed currency: you cannot easily buy it before you travel or change it back outside Morocco, and you may bring in or take out no more than 2,000 dirhams in cash. ONDA lists exchange desks run by Banque Centrale Populaire, Al Barid Bank, BMCE Bank and Global Exchange, in the public hall and, for some, in the customs area too. Change enough for the taxi tip, the porter and the first day, and keep the receipt.
Orange Maroc sells an eSIM online that you can activate with a QR code, and tourist top-ups from 100 dirhams for seven days of data to 500 dirhams for 30 days with calls included. inwi also sells eSIMs through its shops. Set it up before you land and you have data as you walk out.
After baggage reclaim, signs lead to the kech.cab desk at the exit of arrivals, set up by ONDA with the local authorities and run by the Moroccan start-up Casky. Fares are fixed by the authorities by destination and shown at the desk before you pay; no fare list is published online; you pay at the desk by card or cash, scan the receipt at a kiosk and get a ticket with your taxi's number and your place in the queue. The taxis are registered and badged. The point is to end haggling at the kerb.
For the Palmeraie, the Route d'Amizmiz and the Agafay desert, or with a family and a lot of luggage, a private transfer or a car sent by the hotel is the simplest way. Agree the meeting point when you book.
ONDA's airport page says a shuttle bus links the airport and the city every 20 minutes, but it does not give the stop, the line or the hours. Marrakech's city buses passed to a new operator, Supratours, in December 2025, and the airport line's current number, fare and hours are not published online, so check them at the stop before you rely on it.
Allow for three queues: check-in or bag drop, passport control and security. ONDA puts the average wait under an hour since its 2025 changes, with half an hour as the target. Check your airline's own deadlines.
From the Medina and Hivernage it is a short drive: ask your hotel to book a taxi or its own car the evening before, especially for a dawn flight. From Agafay or the Palmeraie, book a transfer.
Since March 2025 there are no scanners and portals at the doors, so you walk straight in to the 58 check-in desks. Security screening happens further on.
Police check your passport and your entry stamp as you leave. If the stamp is missing, expect questions, which is why it is worth checking on arrival.
You may take out no more than 2,000 dirhams in cash. Spend the rest, or change it back at an exchange desk with the receipt from when you bought it.
Airside, ONDA's last published list names Starbucks, PAUL, Segafredo, Illy and Mazar, and duty-free shops. Priority Pass members and anyone with an Aspire booking can wait in the Aspire Lounge on the second floor of Terminal 1, opposite Gate A3.
The lounge to know: a hot and cold buffet, alcohol included, air conditioning and a smoking room, and open for the earliest flights.
StarbucksAirside
The familiar coffee and something sweet before boarding.
PAULAirside
The French bakery chain: a sandwich and a croissant for the flight, and the better breakfast.
SegafredoAirside
An Italian espresso bar for a quick coffee standing up.
IllyPublic hall and airside
Coffee on both sides of security, handy if you are meeting someone in arrivals.
MazarPublic hall and airside
The café for a snack and a drink whichever side of security you are on.
Marrakech handled more than ten million passengers in 2025, and the queues were the bottleneck. ONDA's own figure is that, after its 2025 changes, the average wait came down to under an hour, and it is working towards half an hour with a rebuilt departure area, new gates and e-gates. Have your passport, and your hotel's name and address, ready before you join the line.
Check the entry stamp before you walk away from the desk. Travellers without one have had trouble leaving.
Do not haggle at the kerb. The kech.cab desk at the exit of arrivals sells taxi rides at fixed prices set by the authorities, by card or in cash, and gives you a numbered taxi.
Change money at the airport, not before. The dirham is a closed currency, and you can bring in or take out only 2,000 dirhams in cash. A euro bought 10.98 dirhams on 31 October 2026.
Leave the drone at home: bringing one in without prior authorisation is banned, and customs confiscate it.
Usually not at the door. Most Medina lanes are too narrow for cars, so a taxi or transfer stops at the nearest gate or square and you walk the last stretch. Tell your riad your flight time and ask whether it sends someone to meet the car with a cart for the bags. El Fenn is close to Bab el Ksour and Dar Kandi is by Bab Doukkala. Our transfers page has the drop-off point for each.
The airport runs as normal. In the city, eating, drinking or smoking in public in the daytime may cause offence, and roads get busy and driving can be erratic around dusk, when people head home to break the fast; if you land late in the afternoon, a pre-booked car saves waiting for a taxi. In 2027 Ramadan falls in February and early March, with Eid al-Fitr after it.
ONDA says the airport has ramps and lifts for passengers with reduced mobility, and airport and ground-handling staff to help. Book assistance through your airline when you book, and say exactly what you need. The Aspire Lounge lists disabled access.
Flights from Marrakech to the EU are covered by EU rules only when an EU airline operates them. Then a delay of three hours or more on arrival can be worth €250 on flights up to 1,500 km and €400 on flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km, which covers most of Western Europe, unless the airline shows extraordinary circumstances. Flights to the UK are covered by the UK's equivalent rules only when a UK or EU airline operates them: £350 to every UK airport. A Moroccan or other non-European airline flying out of Marrakech is covered by neither.
The airport is on the city's south-west side, close to everything we picked. The Medina five, La Mamounia, Royal Mansour, La Villa des Orangers, El Fenn and Dar Kandi, and the two in Hivernage, Nobu Hotel Marrakech and Dar Rhizlane, are a short taxi ride from the kech.cab desk. Fairmont Royal Palm is out on the Route d'Amizmiz, Palais Namaskar on the Palmeraie side of the city and Inara Camp in the Agafay desert: for those three, book the hotel's car or a private transfer. Our transfers page has the options and the drop-off point for each of our ten.
Questions people ask
About 6 km by road, on the city's south-west side; Jemaa el-Fna and the Medina are 8 to 16 minutes away by car with the roads clear.
The fare is fixed by the authorities according to where you are going. You pay it at the kech.cab desk at the exit of arrivals, by card or cash, and get a ticket with your taxi's number, so there is nothing to negotiate.
Yes: ONDA's airport page says a shuttle bus links the airport and the city every 20 minutes. The city's buses changed operator in December 2025 and the current line number, fare and hours are not published online, so check them at the stop.
Yes, the Aspire Lounge on the second floor of Terminal 1, after passport control and opposite Gate A3. Priority Pass lists it as open around the clock, with entry from three hours before departure for up to three hours.
Not easily: the dirham is a closed currency, and you may bring in or take out no more than 2,000 dirhams in cash. Change money at one of the exchange desks in the arrivals hall.
Not as a tourist from the UK or the EU: you can stay up to 90 days. UK passports must be valid for at least three months after arrival; Spain and Germany ask for six months; identity cards are not accepted.
It handled 10.2 million passengers in 2025, according to ONDA, the first year it passed ten million, and 28% of all air passengers in Morocco.
Yes, in winter: United flies nonstop from Newark, a seasonal route it launched in October 2024. Otherwise Royal Air Maroc connects through Casablanca.