FlyingFrZ

I will be flying into CMN from Paris at the end of the year to connect to the IB flight to MAD out of Terminal 1. Since I will be on separate tickets I was looking for some advice.

I can either choose to fly AT out of ORY with a 1hr 35min connection in CMN, or AF out of CDG with a 2hr 35min connection in CMN. All flights will be in J and I will be traveling with hand luggage only.

I was curious how easy the transfer will be in CMN, or if flying AT vs AF made any difference apart from the extra connection time flying AF.

Thanks in advance

MSPeconomist

Casablanca? Why are you connecting there to get from Paris to Madrid?

BTW, separate tickets aren't a connection.

jrl767

not presuming to answer for the OP, but maybe positioning to pick up CMN-MAD-XXX on a great IB fare

so the real questions are:
(1) what’s MCT for international-to-international at CMN?
(2) can intl-to-intl pax remain airside or do they have to pass through Morocco customs/immigration and then re-clear security, passport control, etc for the outbound?

stimpy

I don't know about MCT, but the actual time is highly variable. I would opt for the longer connection, however AF is usually much more expensive than AT. And I really like AT business class.

It's been years since I did an Intl connection, but I am pretty sure you do not need to exit. AT handles thousands of pax per day on intl connections at CMN. However PAR-CMN-MAD could be looked at as a weird one. Most pax are going between Europe and Africa.

simons1

There are several angles to this. If the OP has boarding passes for the Iberia flights to hand then an international transfer should work OK. Personally I would allow the longer time but that is natural caution.

However with separate tickets the OP is not connecting, so if the inward flight is say an hour late it will be squeaky bum time. Iberia will likely just treat it as a no show with no protections.

FlyingFrZ

Flying into CMN to take advantage of the stellar AA ex-CMN J fare from about a month ago.

Price for either flight shouldn't be an issue as I will be using miles.

I was mostly curious the ability to transfer airside at CMN.

offvoice

You would most likely need ton exit unless you already have your boarding pass, then you might have a chance to go through. CMN handles connecting passengers efficiently, and last time I connected there (ORY-CMN-ABJ), there was a transit desk where pax that were BP-less could get their BP. However, I wouldn't be able to confirm 1/if this is for AT only or for all passengers (ONDA, the airport handler, is also the one operating other airlines AFAIK) 2/if they would allow you to connect with a BP that is originating from CMN (as I understand this would be the case).

However: while custom and security can be excessively long in CMN of you're unlucky (think JFK during rush hours), they do have J PAX lines, that are only available to PAX flying in Business (not to SkyPriority or whatever status you may have that would grant priority through status). That was the situation at least one year ago, things may have changed.

stimpy

I've used those J business class lines often at CMN. The problem is that they are not only for J. They are also for any Moroccan man who is wearing a suit and screaming in Arabic that he is important and must use the business class line.