A POPULAR holiday destination just a few hours from the UK is getting a huge new £960million airport expansion.
Mohammed V Airport in Casablanca, Morocco is currently expanding its airport with a new terminal which will be able to handle up to 20million passengers a year.
The new terminal will be ‘H’ shaped and is expected to be operational by 2029, in time for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.
It will have three levels with shops, green spaces and an airport hotel.
In addition, the terminal will be connected to Morocco‘s high-speed rail (LGV) network with links to Kenitra and Marrakech.
According to Architects’ Journal, the terminal will feature “sweeping undulations of the roof [evoking] the waves and movement of the Atlantic”.
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The project also includes a 3,700-metre runway, which will run alongside taxiways and a new 42-metre-tall air traffic control tower.
British architecture firm, RSHP – who designed London’s Millennium Dome and Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5 and control tower – will design the new terminal at Mohammed V Airport.
Ivan Harbour, senior design director at RSHP, said: “The airport will be a celebration of light, warmth and human scale, undulating from grand central spaces to intimate and calming oases, a memorable experience for all travelling through it.
“It will be a state of the art, responsible, building that interprets and celebrates the landscape of its place to create a graceful threshold between Casablanca and the world beyond.”
The airport currently has two terminals and serves around 11.5million passengers each year.
Royal Air Maroc flies direct to Casablanca from London Heathrow with flights starting from £178 one-way.
Though, with the airport expansion there could be more services to the UK in the future.
Casablanca’s main attraction is the Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest mosques in the world.
It also has a popular seaside promenade with lots of hotels and restaurants as well as Habous Quarter (known for its Moorish-style architecture, olive souks and bookstores) and the Old Medina with traditional markets.
The city is pretty cheap as well – a three-course meal for two usually costs around £23.74, while a beer is less than £3.
And the famous 1942 film Casablanca was also set in the city during World War II.
Despite mostly being filmed in studios in California, the film depicts the bustling city of Casablanca when it was used by people fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe.
In other airport news, a major London airport has hiked its drop off fees to £10 – the second highest in the UK.
Plus, these are all the new routes launching from the UK’s biggest and busiest airport this spring and summer.