If you live in Europe or North America and organise your parents' Umrah from a distance, you may remember the old routine: a Sunday in February or March when Morocco's clocks went back, and another after Eid when they went forward again. That routine has ended, and this page explains what replaced it.
It covers the 2026 reform, what it changes for a train or a flight from Mohammed V airport, and the few checks that are still worth doing1. The clock changes of 2025 and 2026 are kept below as history, for anyone reading an old ticket or an old group message810.
Does Morocco still change its clocks in Ramadan?
No. On Sunday 20 September 2026 at 2:00, Morocco set its clocks back 60 minutes and returned permanently to legal GMT time1.
The change rests on Decree 2.26.530 of 25 June 2026, published in Official Bulletin 7521 of 29 June 20261. It repeals the 2018 decree that had put the country on GMT+1, with a temporary return to GMT during Ramadan1. With that decree gone, there is no longer a Ramadan switch to announce each year.
What did the old Ramadan changes look like?
Until 2026, the clocks moved twice around the month810:
| Year | Clocks went back to GMT | Clocks went forward again |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sunday 23 February 2025 at 3:008 | Sunday 6 April 2025 at 2:008 |
| 2026 | Sunday 15 February 2026 at 3:00, by 60 minutes10 | Sunday 22 March 2026 at 2:0010 |
These dates are history. They matter only if you are reading an old booking, or a reminder written by a group before the reform, that still assumes a spring change.
How should you read a flight or train time from Mohammed V now?
A departure time on an airline ticket is the local time at the airport you leave from. For Mohammed V, that is now GMT on every day of the year1. There is no Sunday in Ramadan when the clock jumps, so a flight booked months ahead keeps the same meaning from booking day to departure day.
Three situations still deserve a second look:
- A device that missed the reform. An up-to-date phone shows GMT. An old phone, a watch or a kitchen clock set by hand can still show the old time, 60 minutes ahead1. The evening before the flight, compare the traveller's clocks with a recent phone.
- Planning from abroad. Your own country may still change its clocks on its own calendar, so the gap between your time and your parents' time can still shift during the year. Agree on every time as "Casablanca time" and write it that way in the family chat.
- Arriving in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia keeps its own time, ahead of Morocco's. The landing time on your ticket is local time in Jeddah or Medina; check the exact gap with the airline before you tell the family when to call.
The airport train runs on Moroccan local time like everything else. During Ramadan 1447, ONCF kept 1 train per hour on the Mohammed V line, from 5:40 to 22:5512. The year before, during Ramadan 1446, it announced 1 train per hour from 5:00 to 23:0015. For a very early or very late flight, the first and last trains decide whether the train works at all. Station access, the Aérobus and luggage are covered in our guide to reaching CMN by train or Aérobus.
When is the next Ramadan?
According to the Umm al-Qura calendar used in Saudi Arabia, 1 Ramadan 1448 falls on Monday 8 February 2027 (estimate, subject to moon sighting)14. Morocco may start on a different day: in 2026, Morocco began Ramadan 1 day after Saudi Arabia, and the same gap in 2027 is not confirmed17.
What will move is the start of the month, not the clock. ONCF's Ramadan timetable for the airport line has not been published yet12.
What should you check on your booking?
In order
- When the ticket is issued: note the departure date, the departure time and the check-in cut-off the airline gives you, all in Casablanca time.
- If you organise from abroad: send your parents the times written as Casablanca time, and ask them to read them back to you.
- For the arrival: read the landing time as Saudi local time, and agree with the family when the first call will be.
- The evening before: check the time on the traveller's phone, watch and alarm clock against a recent phone.
- On the day: leave with a margin, and treat the departure screens at the airport as the final word.
The rest of the departure, from the terminal to the documents, is in our Umrah departure guide for Mohammed V airport. If you have not booked yet, our page on direct flights from Casablanca to Jeddah and Medina lists the carriers named in our sources.
Not confirmed yet
- The exact time difference between Morocco and Saudi Arabia: our facts register does not hold a dated source for Saudi time yet, so we do not print a figure.
- ONCF's Ramadan timetable for the airport line next season.
- The official start of Ramadan in Morocco, which depends on the sighting of the crescent moon.
- Whether every airline and booking site has updated its Casablanca times to the new rule: we found no source.
For questions about fasting while travelling, ask a trusted imam or scholar, and a doctor for a parent on medication.