Royal Air Maroc Passengers Lose €800 Compensation Claim and Must Pay Airline €450
Two Royal Air Maroc passengers who arrived in Lyon more than three hours late after departing from Dakhla lost their case in France. The Villeurbanne court ruled that their boarding passes were not enough to prove they had suffered damage entitling them to compensation.
On April 23, 2025, two travelers boarded Royal Air Maroc flights AT1423 and AT720 from Dakhla to Lyon, with a connection in Casablanca. They reached their destination more than three hours late. Believing they were entitled to compensation, they filed a claim with the Villeurbanne local court on July 16.
On Bladi.net : Royal Air Maroc ordered to pay €1,250 after passengers arrive in Agadir more than three hours late
The two passengers each sought 400 euros in compensation for the delay, or 800 euros in total. They also sought 800 euros in damages for abusive resistance and 1,500 euros for their legal costs. Royal Air Maroc contested their claims and asked that they be ordered to pay the airline 1,500 euros in legal costs.
In its ruling issued on October 13, 2026, the court rejected all the travelers’ claims and ordered them to pay the airline 450 euros between them, plus court costs.
Why the three-hour delay was not enough
The court did not dispute that the passengers had been delayed. The problem lay with the supporting evidence they submitted. The travelers based their claim on the Montreal Convention, which allows compensation for damage caused by an air delay, provided that actual harm is proven.
However, they had submitted only their boarding passes. No document showed additional expenses, lost earnings or other concrete consequences of the delay. The judge therefore found that they had not proved the existence of compensable damage.
The travelers had also cited the flat-rate compensation of 400 euros provided for under European Regulation 261/2004. But that scheme, which under certain conditions allows passengers to obtain compensation without proving individual harm, did not cover their journey departing from Morocco, operated by a non-European airline.
The decision contrasts with another ruling by the same court, issued on September 2, 2026. Two Royal Air Maroc passengers who arrived in Agadir more than three hours late after departing from Lyon had been awarded 800 euros in compensation and 450 euros in legal costs. Their journey began in France, which meant the European regulation applied in this case. The same judge issued both rulings, 41 days apart.
