Decision No. 129-C-A-2023

[1] Ms. Abd El Malak purchased a round-trip ticket to travel from Montréal, Quebec, to Cairo, Egypt, via Casablanca, Morocco, departing on February 8, 2020, and returning on February 24, 2020. The flight from Casablanca to Montréal scheduled on February 24, 2020, was postponed to the next day. Ms. Abd El Malak travelled on that flight on February 25, 2020.

[2] Ms. Abd El Malak seeks compensation in the amount of CAD 1,000 for the cancellation of her flight.

[3] In this decision, the role of the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) is to decide whether Royal Air Maroc properly applied the terms and conditions applicable to the ticket that Ms. Abd El Malak purchased, as set out in its Tariff. The Tariff is a legal document that contains the terms, conditions and other rules that apply to the passenger’s ticket.

[4] The Canada Transportation Act provides that the obligations of the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) are deemed to form part of the carrier’s tariff. The Agency finds that the obligations set out under the APPR apply and rejects Royal Air Maroc’s argument that the APPR does not apply in this case.

[5] The parties agree that Flight AT0273 that was originally scheduled to depart on February 24, 2020, was cancelled. Royal Air Marco does not claim that the flight cancellation was within its control but required for safety purposes or that it was outside its control. Therefore, the Agency finds that the cancellation was within its control.

[6] Under the APPR, compensation is only due when a passenger has been informed of the cancellation 14 days or less before the departure time that is indicated on their original ticket when the cancellation is within the carrier’s control. The parties disagree on whether Ms. Abd El Malak was informed sufficiently in advance of the flight cancellation.

[7] Ms. Abd El Malak claims that she was informed after she arrived at the Cairo airport on February 24 to take her return flight. She submits that Royal Air Maroc did not provide sufficient evidence, considering that Royal Air Maroc admits that it is not able to retrieve all communications because they have been archived. Royal Air Maroc claims that, several months prior to the departure of the flight, it informed Ms. Abd El Malak’s travel agency that her flight was postponed to the next day.

[8] Royal Air Maroc filed a copy of Ms. Abd El Malak’s passenger name record which supports its assertion that, on July 3, 2019, it has conveyed the information that the flight was cancelled. The record shows that a new ticket was printed for Ms. Abd El Malak on August 13, 2019. Based on the evidence submitted, the Agency finds that it is more likely than not that Royal Air Maroc has conveyed the flight cancellation on or around August 13, 2019, as the evidence demonstrates that Ms. Abd El Malak’s travel agency has issued a new ticket to her on that date.

[9] Considering that Royal Air Maroc has conveyed the flight cancellation more than 14 days prior to the departure time indicated on the original ticket, the Agency finds that Royal Air Maroc properly applied its Tariff. Therefore, the Agency dismisses the application.