Menu

Wide Angle

Accused of discriminating against a Liberian official, RAM gives its version of the stroy

Accused on social media of discriminating against a Liberian Minister, Morocco’s national carrier Royal Air Maroc responds, citing fake news.

DR
Estimated read time: 2'

Morocco’s national carrier Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has been accused of discriminating against a Liberian official on social media.

In a video that went viral in the last two days, the minister appeared complaining about the delay of a flight connecting Casablanca to Monrovia. The latter claims that RAM booked hotel rooms for American passengers and left its African clients sleep on the airport’s floor.

Responding to accusations, RAM explained on Monday, 20th of August, that these «are just fake news». It also reported that the video in question refers to passengers carried by Royal Air Maroc’s AT-567 flight, connecting Casablanca to Monrovia on August 10th, 2018.

«Flight AT-567 was canceled because of some technical issues. About sixty passengers who had to fly to the Liberian capital were told that they would take a different flight on August the 11th», said the company in a press release sent today to Yabiladi.

RAM explains that ten passengers, including Liberian-American nationals (who did not need a visa) were transferred to a couple of hotels in Casablanca. «However, fifty others who held Liberian citizenships could not leave the international zone, which is the airport, because they did not have a visa [but the company] took care of them», said the same communiqué.

Accused on social media

However, during the weekend, Liberians did not appreciate what happened to their minister while in Morocco. On Twitter, the identity of the official was revealed, who was Eugene Fahngon, Liberia’s minister of Public Affairs.

«If this complaint comes before Liberian courts, Royal Air Maroc will end up paying tens of thousands of dollars instead of paying hundreds of dollars for hotel rooms», said the minister to a RAM’s senior official.

Contacted by Telquel, a RAM official said yesterday that the video published on August the 19th was shot «two months ago», which seems like a clumsy attempt to spark controversy.

For the record, and according to Moroccan laws, airline companies have to take care of their passengers when flights are delayed or canceled.

Be the first one to comment on our articles...