From Montreal in Canada to Cancún in Mexico, the influences and reality stars kept the party going. On board the plane, they danced standing up, dropped their face masks and smoked all the way to the New Year’s party.
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– Barbarians and idiots, says Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about dozens of Canadian citizens who traveled with Sunwing Airlines to Cancún on December 30.
Videos on social media show that they danced tightly without a bandage, sent a large bottle of vodka on a tour and smoked e-cigarettes on board the plane.
“It is extremely frustrating, and a slap in the face to see people risking themselves, their fellow citizens and flight crews by being completely and utterly irresponsible,” Prime Minister Trudeau said in a statement.
–Among those still stranded in Mexico are reality stars from Montreal and Quebec.
Promises consequences
The airline Sunwing refused to let them come on board again, even though they had chartered a plane home on Wednesday this week. Air Transat and Air Canada also refused to allow them to return with their aircraft, reports BBC.
“To the extent that we can identify passengers who were part of that group, we will deny them boarding to ensure that other passengers and our employees are safe,” Air Canada said in a statement.
According to the Canadian channel CTV News, some of the party participants still got home with an Air Canada plane on Thursday night. The channel reports that at least one of the passengers must have been handcuffed by the airport police after arrival.
–The health authorities in the country confirm that 27 of the party participants have so far returned to the country, and are being checked at the airport. They also confirm that some of them will be able to receive severe penalties for violating the infection control rules
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos states that the police in the state of Quebec are investigating the travelers. They can be fined around 35,000 Norwegian kroner per violation, according to the BBC.
Stranded 19-year-old feels abandoned
The 19-year-old student Rebecca St Pierre tells the Canadian Press that she won a competition on Instagram that allowed her to join the plane down to Mexico. Now she is stranded in Mexico, has tested positive for corona, and has no idea how to pay for the hotel after she is not allowed to fly home.
– I expected a relaxing week, where I should be careful. But it turns out to be an expensive trip, instead of something that should be free, she says.
St Pierre estimates according to The Guardian that around 30 of the other participants from the plane have also tested positive. She says that some of the other travelers had planned to fill their noses with Vaseline before the planned return trip on Wednesday, in an attempt to sabotage the testing.
–– The organizer left us. I have no idea who is left. All flights home have been canceled, she says frustrated and affected to the Canadian Press.
The organizer behind the New Year’s trip, James William Awad, said in a statement on Thursday that he thought the airline Sunwing was unreasonable due to a “simple party”.
– I will sit down and think through it all. Especially how I can make things better next time, says Awad.
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