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A court in Beijing has ordered Malaysia Airlines to pay more than £300,000 in compensation to the families of eight passengers who were aboard missing flight MH370.
Each family will receive 2.9 million yuan (£307,571) to cover the loss of their relatives, funeral costs, and emotional distress, according to the court ruling.
Although the passengers have never been found, they have been officially declared dead.
Flight MH370 disappeared in 2014 while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, triggering extensive but unsuccessful search operations. Most passengers were Chinese nationals, and many families in China are still demanding answers.
The court noted that 23 additional cases are still in progress, while 47 cases have been settled and others have been withdrawn.
The Malaysian government announced last week that the search for the missing aircraft will resume on 30 December.
The plane’s last known communication came about 40 minutes after takeoff, when Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah said, “Good night, Malaysian three seven zero,” as the aircraft approached Vietnamese airspace. Shortly afterward, its transponder stopped functioning and contact was lost.
Radar later indicated that the aircraft made a sharp turn over Peninsular Malaysia, and investigators believe it ultimately crashed in the Indian Ocean west of Australia. Over the years, small fragments of debris linked to MH370 have washed ashore.
In 2020, former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott claimed senior Malaysian officials believed early on that the pilot may have crashed the plane intentionally. However, investigators state that without locating the aircraft, the true cause cannot be confirmed.
