Royal Air Maroc ordered to pay €900 after 13-hour delay and missed connection

Thirteen hours late on arrival and a missed connection. A Royal Air Maroc passenger’s trip on 23 October 2023 turned into a long wait, and she was eventually rerouted the following day. In response to her compensation claim, the Moroccan airline argued that weather conditions had prevented its plane from taking off on time. But the documents submitted to the court did not correspond to the date of the flight.

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The discrepancy was noted by the Paris Judicial Court in its ruling of 15 September 2026. The only weather disruptions documented by Royal Air Maroc concerned 22 October 2023. But the disputed delay occurred on 23 October, the following day.

The airline also claimed it had followed airport instructions that had prevented it from taking off at the scheduled time. But it provided no documents enabling the judge to verify that those instructions existed.

A one-day discrepancy sinks RAM’s defense

To avoid paying compensation under the European regulation on passengers’ rights, an airline must prove that extraordinary circumstances caused the delay. In this case, the court found that Royal Air Maroc had not provided the necessary evidence.

The passenger, who had claimed compensation in April 2024, will therefore receive the €400 provided for under the European regulation. An additional €500 for her legal costs brings the total to €900.

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However, the court rejected the additional €150 sought for abusive resistance. It found that the passenger had not shown she suffered a loss separate from the one for which she had already been compensated.

Royal Air Maroc, which was represented at the hearing, must also pay the court costs. The ruling, issued nearly three years after the trip, is final at first instance.