Passengers have right to claim compensation

A PRETRIAL MEETING in the litigation related to the Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared after taking off from Kuala Lumpur three years ago, concluded in Beijing on Tuesday, with a focus on exchanges of evidence and clarifying the appeals of relevant parties. Beijing News commented on Wednesday:

The families of the passengers made their requests for compensation during the two-day hearing at the Beijing Railway Transport Court. The amounts ranged from 10 million yuan ($1.5 million) to 74.9 million yuan.

In January 2015, Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation declared Flight MH370's disappearance an accident, with all 239 passengers and crew members on board presumed dead. The change in ownership - Malaysia Airlines Systems operated the flight and was subsequently renamed Malaysia Airlines Berhad - does not mean the operator can muddle through without compensating the relatives of victims.