Pireps at EDDH.de as recent as 7/19 claim that handling is not mandatory neither at arrival nor at departure and that the authorities did not succeed in enforcing mandatory handling towards the pilots (stubbornness won out).
However, the AIP says in no uncertain terms that handling is required: AD 2.4/7
Does anyone of you has first hand experience?
Has anyone of you been to Dakhla GMMH or Laayoune GMML?
Kind regards – and soon to be: Merry Christmas!
We have been at Marrakech three years ago. No handling was required for the Bonanza, but it was a mess with the authorities, to get it done without handling. So next time I think, we will have handling to ease our life.
I’ve been to these two airfields but it was organized by the ‘Rallye Toulouse Saint Louis’ and they took care of these details. However I’ve been to other airfields in Morocco alone and they require you to file flight plans for every flight, usually at the tower; also, fuel needs to be paid cash most of the time and you need to check with police at each and every stop. So unless you’re fluent in french, a handler is going to make your life so much easier.
(also, you need to become familiar with their prohibited areas – they protect the royal family houses and they are pretty serious about it)
Have fun!
French isn’t a problem, so may be I will give it a try. Did you get any impression from GMMH or GMML? I could (barely) skip one of them.
Nobody wants handling agents – however, if I imagine some Marrocains landing at Frankfurt or Berlin with a plane way out of reach for the average German and refusing to accept the (published) mandatory handling, I am not quite sure they’re gonna make friends with that … I’ll try to be polite.
Morocco has very large airports with very little traffic it seems. It has always been fairly easy to get in and out.
GMMH is a good memory; I remember getting oysters by the beach after landing there. GMML was just a fuel stop (our real destination was Tarfaya, a dirt strip that Antoine de Saint Exupéry was managing back in 1927). I heard that GMMH can remain closed for days because of coastal fog.
A good stop further North imo is Till Mellil GMMT. It’s a GA-only airfield, they have 100LL (assuming you’ll need some).
Apparently they are streamlining their processes, they don’t require the police card to be filled up at every airfield anymore: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2019/09/282642/travelers-morocco-exit-forms/
AFAIK, Marrakesh is the only place where you need “permission from airfield admin” if staying overnight, that is something you get solely via “bizjet handlers” (they lobbied to impose this on all GA) or by trying your own luck (say technical stop and then stay as much as you want)
If you have cleared customs before, then you just send an FPL and give the tower a call and you probably don’t have to deal with “jet handlers” but you will need a lot of time as things get very slow without handlers, surely you can get away with it if you have a spare 1/2 day 
Do you have a flying permit for GMML ?
Do you have a flying permit for GMML ?
No, I had intended to apply for it when I was in Maroc.
Now as you mention it, it’s maybe more sensible to apply when filing a flight plan from France to Marrakesh. It‘s maybe even smarter to give them a call weeks before planned arrival and ask for instructions.
Thank you for the heads-up!
You don’t need flying permit for anything north of Agadir, for the south of Morocco it needs flying permit (Western Sahara), I suggest you get one before you arrive as takes a bit of time to process at the CAA
Good luck for trip, Dakhla is nice sea and water sports stop !
Handling at Marrakech is still not required for GA
BUT since they introduce there new apron the walk is crazy. On the return they want you to fill some form they won’t give you. Think of at least 5 full GENDEC.
It’s the only complicated airport with GMMN (Casablanca)
All others airports you can go without handling. People are nice it’s may take some time but it part of the advanture.
As previously stated anything south of Agadir (Western Sahara) need overflight and landing permit.
Dakhla is nice, terminal was brand new for two commercial flight per week.
Only place in Morocco where you need to bring at the top of the tower all planes papers (the guys do the flight planning also)
Enjoy flying there, if you can take a Jet A1 compatible airplane it make the things way easier and lot cheaper !
