On Thursday, UA-628 departed from Newark for Marrakech. However, low visibility prevented the aircraft from landing in Morocco, so it had to divert to Tenerife. It took off from Tenerife after conditions cleared and made the trip back to Marrakech nearly two hours later.
Inaugural flight to Marrakech
On October 31st, 
United Airlines
Flight 628, which offers nonstop service from Newark Liberty International Airport
(EWR) to Marrakesh
Menara Airport (RAK), was forced to divert.
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
Flight from EWR to RAK began on October 24th, making the route relatively new for the airline. Things were going swimmingly as Flight 628 departed from the EWR gate on time at 21:44 local time and began its seven-and-a-half-hour journey to RAK.
According to Flight Aware, the aircraft was coming into land at RAK nearly 6 hours after takeoff but couldn’t see the runway due to heavy fog. The crew initiated a missed approach and then diverted to Tenerife
South–Reina Sofía Airport (TFS), adding an additional hour of flight time, landing at 10:13 local time.
Photo: Flight Aware
According to Live and Let’s Fly, the aircraft landed safely at TFS and waited for the fog to pass and for visibility at RAK to improve. The aircraft waited for over an hour at Tenerife and took off at 11:25 local time. It flew the 568-mile journey back to RAK and had to stay in a holding pattern for nearly 10 minutes before starting the approach.
Flight 628 landed at RAK at 14:29 local time without further issue. However, the diversion had cascading effects, as the flight departing for EWR had to be delayed as well. That flight took off nearly four hours later than scheduled, at 16:13 local time.
Photo: Abdul N Quraishi – Abs | Shutterstock.com
United pilots were able to make up nearly 50 minutes on the flight back, and the aircraft landed in EWR at 19:34, three hours and nine minutes after it was scheduled to arrive.
Simple Flying has contacted United for a statement on the matter.
UA EWR to RAK
United Airlines began its thrice-weekly service to Marrakech, Morocco, from New Jersey on October 24th and is the only carrier to offer nonstop flights between New York City and Marrakech.
Photo: Q world | Shutterstock
The airline operates the flights using the airline’s “High J” premium Boeing 767-300ER
, which is usually reserved for premium leisure routes. The aircraft is equipped with just 167, down previously from 214. It is configured as follows:
- 46 Polaris suites
- 22 Premium Plus recliners
- 43 Economy Plus seats
- 56 economy seats
The aircraft was part of the airline’s push to increase revenue per seat by offering more premium service and amenities at premium prices. In fact, these widebody aircraft have fewer seats than some of the airline’s narrowbody jets.
United is the only airline that serves a direct flight between the two destinations, which means that the route has no domestic or foreign competition. This perfectly positions the airline to take full advantage of the route. The flight is United’s fifth nonstop flight to the continent of Africa and the only one in Northern Africa.
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