SIM card, eSIM and WiFi at Marrakech airport

Maroc Telecom, Orange and inwi sell SIM cards at Marrakech airport, in the arrivals area. Travellers report about 100 dirhams (10 euros) for 10 GB and about 200 dirhams for 20 GB. You need your passport and cash. An eSIM bought before you leave costs more per gigabyte but works as soon as you land, and the airport WiFi is free.

Three ways to be connected on arrival

Where the stands are

The three operators have stands in the arrivals area of the airport. Descriptions differ on the exact spot: one traveller places them after baggage reclaim and the baggage check, another just before the exit of the arrivals hall, on the left. The practical rule is simple: look for the red, orange and purple stands between the baggage belts and the exit, and buy before you walk out of the building.

Opening hours: the unknown

None of the operators publishes the hours of its airport stand, and a traveller who asked the question on a forum got no answer. Purchases in the afternoon are documented. For a late-night arrival, do not rely on the stands: tobacconists and phone shops in town sell SIM cards and stay open late.

What it costs at the airport

A comparison published in 2026 by an eSIM seller gives the same order of magnitude for the three operators: 10, 20 and 30 GB for about 100, 200 and 300 dirhams. These are not official airport prices. A travel guide of September 2025 adds that inwi and Maroc Telecom often hand out the SIM card itself free of charge in arrivals, the data bundle being what you pay for.

What you need

• Your passport. The card is registered in your name, and the staff may photograph the passport.
• Cash. Expect to pay in dirhams or, according to travellers, in euros at the Maroc Telecom stand. If you have no dirhams yet, see ATMs and exchange at the airport.
• An unlocked phone. A phone locked to your home operator will refuse a Moroccan card.

Ask the staff to install the card and check that data works before you leave the stand.

Airport or town?

Town is cheaper. A traveller reported a card at 20 dirhams with 2 GB for 20 dirhams in a shop, and another about 10 dirhams per gigabyte. The airport bundles are larger and cost more in total. If you need maps and messages for the ride to your riad, the airport stand or an eSIM makes sense. If someone is meeting you, the purchase can wait.

eSIM: connected before you land

An eSIM is installed from home and switches on when the plane lands. Prices read in 2026:

The Holafly prices come from its own page in October 2026; the others from a comparison dated March 2026. Per gigabyte, an eSIM costs several times the local card. Moroccan operators also offer eSIM: inwi presents an offer for visitors on its site, without a public price. A traveller on a motorcycle forum found the signal of an international eSIM poor in the High Atlas in 2024.

The airport WiFi

WiFi is free in the terminals, on a network named "Menara Airport Free Wi-Fi". It slows down when several flights have just landed. It is enough to send a message to your riad or to your driver from the baggage belt.

Which operator

• Maroc Telecom has the widest coverage, including villages, the Atlas and the desert. Choose it if you leave the cities.
• Orange and inwi are strong in the cities and are enough for a stay in Marrakech.

In remote areas the signal comes and goes whatever the operator.

Topping up

• Scratch cards are sold in small shops everywhere. You send the code by text message, following the instructions printed on the card.
• Phone shops top up your number directly from their own phone.
• The operators' apps exist, but foreign bank cards are sometimes refused.

Do you need a phone to find your driver?

No. With a booked transfer the driver stands in the arrivals hall with a board showing your name, follows your flight and waits up to 60 minutes after landing. A SIM card is useful for the rest of the stay, not for the first ride. The transfer to the Medina, Gueliz or Hivernage costs €20 per vehicle for 1 to 7 passengers; the other prices are on the price page, and the steps after landing are in the arrival guide.

Practical cases

A long weekend in Marrakech

For three or four days in the city, with WiFi in the riad, a small eSIM of 1 to 3 GB or the 10 GB card of the airport is more than enough for maps and messages. The eSIM saves the stop at the stand; the local card costs less per gigabyte.

Two weeks with the Atlas or the desert

Choose a local card, and choose Maroc Telecom: its coverage is described as the widest outside the cities. A traveller found an international eSIM weak in the High Atlas and the gorges in 2024. Even with the best operator, expect valleys without any signal.

You land after midnight

Nobody could tell a traveller when the airport stands close. Do not build your arrival on them. Install an eSIM before leaving, or rely on the airport WiFi for one message and buy a card the next morning in any phone shop.

Your phone does not accept eSIM, or is locked

Older phones and some phones sold by operators accept neither an eSIM nor a foreign card. Check at home: in the settings, look for the option to add an eSIM, and ask your operator whether the phone is unlocked. If it is locked, roaming or WiFi are your only options.

You are a group or a family

One card with a large bundle and a phone used as a hotspot is the cheap solution. Note that some unlimited eSIM plans cap hotspot sharing: one provider limits it to 1 GB a day.

Mistakes to avoid

• Leaving the stand before testing. Open a web page with the WiFi switched off.
• Throwing away the card holder. It carries your Moroccan number and the codes.
• Switching on roaming without checking its price. Morocco is outside the European Union roaming zone: ask your operator what a day costs before you land.
• Forgetting the passport in the suitcase when you queue at the stand.

Sources

• Routard forum, prices paid by travellers at the airport stands, 2024 and 2025
• Horizons Unlimited, payment, top-up and coverage reported by travellers, 2024
• Travel Extra, airport WiFi and SIM cards handed out in arrivals, 30 September 2025
• Holafly, eSIM prices for Morocco, read in October 2026
• Skyalo, comparison of eSIM prices for Morocco, 11 March 2026
• inwi, eSIM offer of the operator
• Les MRE, operators, coverage and top-up, updated April 2026