Africa's eighth-busiest airport closed 2025 at a record 11.5 million passengers (+9.3%) — its first time past eleven million — and broke ground on a $1.6-billion H-shaped terminal that triples capacity to 35 million by 2029, with a new runway, tower and high-speed rail station.
Mohammed V is Morocco's undisputed gateway: 31% of national traffic, ~90% of it international. The 2025 surge — powered by AFCON 2025, expanded Royal Air Maroc frequencies and record tourism — carried the airport past eleven million for the first time; July 2026 alone saw 1,197,152 passengers (+7.7%), with 6,953,695 through the first seven months (+9.7%).
ONDA targets 12.5 million for 2026 and more than 20 million by 2030 — and the state is backing it with concrete: earthworks began in mid-2025 on the new terminal under the Airports 2030 strategy, which aims to lift national capacity to 80 million passengers.
The H-shaped, hub-style terminal — tendered internationally in May 2025 at an estimated $1.6 billion — takes capacity from roughly 15 to 35 million passengers a year. The package adds a 3,700-m parallel runway, extended taxiways, a 42-m control tower and an integrated high-speed rail station linking the airport to Casablanca, Rabat and Marrakech on the Al Boraq network — Rabat–airport in 35 minutes.
Full operation is targeted for 2029, in time for the 2030 FIFA World Cup Morocco co-hosts with Spain and Portugal.
CMN's story is a hub claiming its geography: the closest major African airport to Europe and the Americas, Royal Air Maroc's home, now with hardware to match the ambition. For the traveller: expect construction friction through 2029 — arrive earlier for departures, and note the airport train to Casa-Port/Casa-Voyageurs (35–45 minutes) beats taxis in rush hour; the coming LGV station will make Rabat a 35-minute air-rail trip. For the watcher: the 35-million-capacity bet only pays if Royal Air Maroc keeps adding banks of connecting flights — watch RAM's fleet orders and the Africa–Europe transfer share. The single-day record of 46,439 passengers shows the ceiling is already being tested.
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