France Ordered to Pay Royal Air Maroc €1,500 After Wrongly Fining It €10,000 Over Transit Visa
France had fined Royal Air Maroc €10,000 for carrying a Kenyan passenger to Paris without a Schengen visa. The Paris Administrative Court overturned the penalty: she did not need a visa for her connection.
Ten thousand euros for a visa that wasn’t needed. France’s Interior Ministry had fined Royal Air Maroc for bringing a Kenyan woman from Casablanca to Paris without a Schengen visa. But the passenger was simply connecting to another flight. The Paris Administrative Court has ruled in the airline’s favor.
On Bladi.net : Royal Air Maroc Fined €10,000 After Passenger Flies to Paris on Another Woman’s Passport
On March 7, 2024, she arrived at Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle. Another plane was due to take her to Addis-Ababa the same day, before she continued on to Nairobi on March 8. Her booking documents confirmed this itinerary. She had a valid passport and the necessary authorizations to reach her destination.
On October 15, 2024, the ministry sought €10,000 from RAM, arguing that it had carried a foreign national without a visa. The airline challenged the fine, saying no visa was required to remain in the international transit area.
She left the transit area, but RAM was not liable
In its ruling of June 11, 2026, the court reviewed the applicable rules. Kenya is on neither the European list of nationalities requiring an airport transit visa nor France’s supplementary list. The passenger could therefore remain in the international area without a Schengen visa or a transit visa.
One detail could have complicated RAM’s defense: after arriving, the passenger did leave the international area. But the judges distinguished the carrier’s obligations from its customer’s subsequent conduct. Because she left after disembarking, this could not be attributed to the airline.
On Bladi.net : Royal Air Maroc ordered to pay €900 after 13-hour delay and missed connection
The court found that Royal Air Maroc had checked the passport, connecting ticket and documents required for the onward journey. The ministry had therefore misapplied the rules governing penalties for air carriers.
The October 15, 2024 decision was overturned. The €10,000 fine was set aside, and the state must pay Royal Air Maroc €1,500 toward its legal costs.
