More than ten years after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared, a court in Beijing has awarded compensation exceeding 2.9 million yuan (about US$410,240) to each family involved in eight separate cases concerning passengers who went missing.
The Chaoyang District People’s Court announced that these rulings apply to eight plaintiffs, each representing one passenger. In addition, the court stated that 47 other related lawsuits have been dropped after reaching private settlements with Malaysia Airlines and its overseas division, Malaysia Airlines International. Currently, 23 cases remain ongoing in the legal process.
According to the court, Friday’s compensation decisions are meant to address funeral costs, psychological suffering, and other damages incurred by the families. Malaysia Airlines has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 carrying 239 people, went off radar on March 8, 2014, during a journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite the most extensive search effort ever conducted in aviation history, the aircraft has never been located. Around two‑thirds of those on board were Chinese; the rest included Malaysians, Indonesians, Australians, as well as citizens of India, the United States, the Netherlands, and France.
Earlier this month, Malaysia’s transport ministry revealed that efforts to find MH370 will restart on December 30. The new phase of the search is planned to last 55 days and will focus on zones considered to offer the greatest likelihood of locating the missing plane, though the exact coordinates were not disclosed.
