My return itinerary from the December 2025 Wheelchair Travel Group Trip to Morocco started with a flight from Casablanca to London on a Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 aircraft. My complete itinerary took me from Casablanca to Knoxville, Tennessee with connections in London, England and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Here are some basic flight details to get started with the review:
Airline/Flight: Royal Air Maroc | AT 800
Route: CMN-LHR — Casablanca, Morocco to London, England
Flight Date: December 16, 2025
Scheduled Departure/Arrival: 1:25 p.m. | 3:40 p.m.
Scheduled Flight Length: 3 hours, 15 minutes
Aircraft: Boeing 787-9
Registration: CN-RHB
Seat: 3A
Royal Air Maroc deploys its Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft on both long-haul and short-haul premium routes including between Casablanca and London-LHR, Miami, New York-JFK and Washington-Dulles. Royal Air Maroc flies both the Boeing 787 and 737 on the Casablanca-London route, and I was excited to experience the carrier’s premium business class offering on the Dreamliner.
How I booked the flight
I purchased the Casablanca to Knoxville ticket, which included this segment on Royal Air Maroc, using American Airlines frequent flyer miles, with the total cost being 57,500 AAdvantage miles plus taxes and fees. All legs were ticketed in business class.
Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 Seating Layout
Royal Air Maroc took delivery of its first Boeing 787 Dreamliner in 2016 and now operates 11 of the type, including both Boeing 787-8 and Boeing 787-9 varieties. There are two cabin layouts on the airline's Boeing 787-9 aircraft, one with 16 business class seats, 28 "Eco Premium" premium economy seats and 276 economy class seats, and another configuration with 26 business class seats and 276 economy class seats.
My flight to London was operated by CN-RHB, which featured the smaller business class cabin. The 16 lay-flat business class seats were arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, while the 28 "Eco Premium" seats were arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration and the 276 economy class seats were arranged in a 3-3-3 configuration.
Economy class seats feature 31 inches of seat pitch and 6 inches of recline. All economy seats feature an in-seat video screen with a 11.6-inch touchscreen display, USB port, in-seat power and a respectable entertainment library.
A high-quality seat map of the Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 is available from aeroLOPA.
Business Class Seat on the Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9
The forward-facing business class seats on the Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787 are built on the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seat platform. The Super Diamond is one of the industry’s most popular business class seat types and is used by carriers worldwide — it’s my personal favorite.
Business class is arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration, with direct aisle access at every seat. The seat shell impedes passenger transfers from the aisle chair to a degree, but the Royal Air Maroc seat is much more accessible than the British Airways Club Suite, which has a door.
The seat lays flat into a bed and Royal Air Maroc provides a pillow and blanket on long-haul itineraries. Since this was a short-haul service, no pillow or blanket was provided. The seat padding on Royal Air Maroc's version of this seat was similar to that offered on other carriers, and I found the seat to be extremely comfortable.
The seat itself is spacious, adjustable and intuitively designed. The seat cushion was upholstered in a dark grey cloth cover.
Reclining the seat is possible using the touch screen control panel adjacent to the seat — it’s possible to recline into a lounge position or further into flat bed mode.
The footwell beneath the entertainment screen is a bit cramped and could impact very tall passengers (as is the case with most premium cabin seats), but most passengers will find the seat spacious — including side sleepers like me, who take up additional space.
Many airlines are navigating away from air vents at each seat, and that is true of Royal Air Maroc — I need air circulation in order to sleep well and would have missed the individual air nozzles that other carriers provide. I found the cabin temperature to be a bit too warm and asked the crew to lower it (to little effect).
The seat features a large, 18.5-inch personal entertainment touchscreen display that can also be controlled by a handheld remote found in a storage compartment adjacent to the seat. There was a small catalogue of movies and TV shows to choose from, as well as a moving flight map. I watched the moving map throughout the journey.
Other tech features include a universal AC power plug and USB port, as well as a pair of noise-canceling headphones for use during the flight.
Food & Beverage Service in Royal Air Maroc Business Class
After boarding the aircraft, I was offered a choice of pre-departure beverages: I selected orange juice, but later enjoyed a glass of champagne.
Shortly after the flight’s departure, flight attendants served an additional round of drinks (I ordered a glass of still water and a second glass of Laurent-Perrier Brut champagne).
A menu was then presented with a number of selections. There was a single appetizer offered:
- Poached prawns — Served with cream cheese with apple and walnut slivers, plus blueberries and a lemon wedge
Three entree selections were available:
- Grilled Sea Bream — With saffron sauce, accompanied with black lentils with quinoa and baby vegetables
- Chicken Seffa — With grilled almonds and walnut-stuffed dates
- Lentil Curry — With vegetables accompanied with coconut rice
I chose the Chicken Seffa. It was delicious and the chicken was plentiful. For such a short flight, I found the meal service adequate.
Dessert followed shortly thereafter, and there were two options listed on the menu, seasonal fruits and a selection of cheeses. Regrettably, the fruit was not catered and only cheese was available. I decided to pass on the cheese.
Accessible Lavatory on the Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9
The designated “accessible” lavatory for passengers using the aisle chair on the Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 is located at the center of the economy class cabin, behind row 24.
When I needed to use the bathroom, I rang the call bell, told the flight attendant, and was pushed to the rear of the aircraft using the onboard aisle wheelchair.
Accessible lavatories come in a number of shapes and sizes, and some are much more accessible than others. If I were to rank the various styles, this one would be near the bottom of the list. Two standard lavatories are effectively combined into one, by opening the folding wall between the two. Although this does provide additional space for the aisle chair and a companion or care assistant, accessibility features are lacking. The aisle chair must be parked perpendicular to the toilet and transfers are awkward.
Being taken in an aisle chair from my seat in row 3 through the business, premium economy and economy class cabins wasn’t comfortable. I bumped into several passengers along the way. The lavatory was located 16 seating rows away from the nearest boarding door — much too far and a failure in accessible design. The proper place for an accessible lavatory on the Boeing 787 is at door 2L or 2R, yet Royal Air Maroc selected a much less accessible lavatory in the center aisle.
Pro-tip: When a flight attendant is assisting you to the lavatory using an aisle chair, advise them to pull you backwards — it’s safer, much easier to maneuver and will prevent your knees from bumping into seats.
For more information on getting to and using the bathroom on the airplane as a wheelchair user, read the article on wheelchair accessible airplane lavatories, which contains photos and descriptions of the various lavatory styles.
Final Thoughts
Royal Air Maroc offers a strong business class product on its Boeing 787 aircraft, superior to others I have tried including Finnair’s Business Class on the A350. The business class seat from Collins Aerospace is about as good as it gets — at least as far as modern seat designs currently being installed on new and remodeled aircraft. The location of the accessible lavatory would set Royal Air Maroc behind airlines that have opted for more accessible lavatory designs, but I would not let this prevent me from enjoying a future flight on the carrier's Dreamliner. The impeccable service offered by the cabin crew stood out as a differentiator, and I look forward to flying with the Moroccan flag carrier again.
