Best airport in Spain (and closest to Morocco) to fly our Africa Twin from Cape Town
 

Hi, all

We're planning our 2022/2023 trip through Europe by motorcycle and Morocco is definitely on our list as well. The idea is to fly our 2017 Africa Twin to Spain and then, hopefully, cross to Ceuta in Morocco and explore Morocco for a week or so before turning north again.

Which airport will be able to receive our AT from Cape Town, South Africa, please?

We'd exit Morocco from Tangiers after our visit.

Thank you very much in anticipation.

Kindest regards

Emil Bosch

You'll have to exit back to Spain, so one option would be to fly direct to Casablanca and save yourself one half of the steep ferry costs of Spain-Morocco-Spain.

If that's not what you want, the logical airport in Spain is Málaga (AGP) which has ample facilities. I've used Silver Wolf in the past, see https://www.silverwolfuk.com/malaga/cargo-malaga/

Málaga is 130 km east of the port of Algeciras which is the normal port for ferries to north west Morocco. In normal times you can also get ferries from Málaga to Melilla in north east Morocco.

Thank you very much, Tim!

I'll definitely check this out.

Hi Emil:

Tim has provided good advice, and because of his standing as the éminence grise of all matters Moroccan, I am reluctant to contradict him.

But, one matter you need to investigate is the cost of air freighting the motorcycle. Chances are that it will be a heck of a lot cheaper to ship the moto on a routing that only involves one flight, for example, JNB-MAD (Johannesburg-Madrid) rather than on a routing that requires two flights such as JNB-AGP. I kind of doubt that there is direct (same aircraft) air service between JNB & AGP.

When you do your investigation, there are two expense categories that you want to investigate. First is the air freight charge, and second is what the 'port charges' (ground handling charges) will be at the destination airport. Ground handling charges vary significantly from airport to airport. By way of example, it is less expensive for me to ship my Canadian motorcycle from Toronto to Paris and then ride to Zurich than it is to ship Toronto-Zurich, even though the air freight fee (what Air Canada charges me) is not significantly different between the two destinations.

Tim's suggestion that you consider shipping directly to Casablanca is a very good suggestion. I realize that commercial aviation in RSA is in a bit of upheaval right now since SAA entered bankruptcy - so you might want to look at all possible alternatives, even those that might not appear immediately obvious, such as perhaps shipping to Germany via Lufthansa or France via Air France and then riding south. Both Germany & France are very competitive so far as port charges are concerned.

Lastly, you didn't indicate whether you plan to break down & crate the motorcycle (not recommended) or ship it standing up in a container. At present, there is an unbalanced flow of cargo into RSA, meaning lots of empty belly space going north in widebody aircraft. In addition to contacting the air freight offices of the airlines themselves, you might want to reach out to a few freight forwarders in RSA and ask them what kind of offers they can make you to ship your moto in a LD6 container. You might get a pleasant surprise. See this post for more information about that: Shipping Moto in a LD6

Michael

PS: See also this post, which will give you a bit of an introduction to the regulations governing shipment of motorcycles ("Vehicle, Flammable Liquid Powered", in airline-speak) by air: DG Regulations applicable to motorcycle shipments. There is a lot of misunderstanding out there amongst cargo acceptance agents about shipping motos, and you might hear all sorts of crap about removing the battery, draining the fuel, etc. - none of that is necessary, what matters is following the rules set out in the IATA DGR (Dangerous Goods Regulations) for air shipment, no less and no more.

If you are flying together with bike I would look for cheapest direct flight; too many opportunities to get your luggage/bike strangled at transfer point. Got marooned in italy for 11 days luggage didn't make through Madrid. And spanish service girls have interesting work ethics they would look at the phone, see UK number and wouldn't pickup.. let someone else hablar ingles.

Many thanks for your valued reply, Michael! :-)

I would also just add - Spain/Iberia is big, and Madrid is right in the center of the square. If you just want to avoid backtracking, you can always fly into Madrid, spend a few days making your way slowly down via Toledo/Cordoba/Seville to Gibraltar and the ferry to Morocco, and on your way up you could follow either of the coasts - west via Portugal and then along the Pyrenees and Basque Country, or east via the Melilla-Almeria ferry, through Cartagena and Valencia to Barcelona. Lots to see either way!

Good advice from Michael

That is a very good suggestion. I have done exactly that routing in the past (stored my moto in Madrid one winter, rode south via Cordoba/Seville to Morocco, then rode north through Portugal & western & northern Spain on the way back to Switzerland).

Spain is a very diverse country, both geographically and culturally. Personally, I would suggest you do the western Spain - Portugal - northern Spain route on the way north, rather than going up the east side. That's simply because there is more geographic and cultural diversity & a denser population on the west side of the Iberian peninsula than there is on the east side. But, honestly, you can't go wrong either way.

Michael

Thank you once again, Michael!