The law is settled, but the practice is not. The recently adapted aviation deal excludes Western Sahara - yet the European Commission still tolerates EU airlines operating there regardless.
Caption: A Binter Airways aircraft after takeoff at Dakhla airport, heading from occupied Western Sahara to the Canary Islands, 2024. Photo by Maria Klenner.
On 8 July 2026, the European Parliament approved the conclusion of the protocol adapting the EU-Morocco Euro-Mediterranean Aviation Agreement following Croatia's accession to the European Union.
The revised agreement was adopted by 625 votes in favour, 16 against and 20 abstentions.
The protocol is of a purely technical nature, updating the agreement to reflect Croatia's accession to the EU. It does not amend the territorial scope of the aviation agreement.
The vote reflected differing views on how the EU should address the practical consequences of the agreement. Western Sahara Resource Watch (WSRW) understands that many MEPs supported the protocol precisely because it merely adapts the existing agreement following Croatia’s accession and, in line with EU case law and the Commission’s repeated statements, does not extend to Western Sahara.
Among the few that voted against, some argued that although the agreement itself does not apply to the territory, the Commission has failed to stop EU airlines from operating flights to occupied Western Sahara outside the legal framework of the agreement, creating an unacceptable situation under international and EU law.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that EU-Morocco agreements can only apply within Morocco's internationally recognised borders unless the people of Western Sahara have given their consent. On that basis, the Court has concluded in 2018 that the aviation agreement cannot be interpreted as extending to the territory of Western Sahara.
The European Commission has repeatedly confirmed this interpretation and has informed EU carriers that per EU case law, the EU-Morocco aviation agreement “does not apply to routes from the territory of an EU Member State to the territory of the Western Sahara”.
Despite this clear legal position, several European airlines continue to operate routes to airports in occupied Western Sahara. Ryanair, for example, has launched flights connecting EU airports with Dakhla, even though those services fall outside the scope of the EU-Morocco aviation framework. Other than Ryanair, three other companies have operated flights into occupied Western Sahara in recent years, in addition to the Moroccan state-owned Royal Air Maroc: Transavia (a subsidiary of KLM-Air France), Air Arabia (UAE) and Binter Airlines (Spain). WSRW has written to KLM-Air France and Air Arabia, without obtaining a response.
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