Sunwing party flight passengers fined nearly $60K, says transport minister

Dozens of passengers on a December party flight from Montreal to Mexico have been fined a total of $59,500, according to the federal transport minister..

Minister Omar Alghabra says 42 tickets were issued to 37 passengers on the pre-New Year’s Eve flight. There were 24 tickets issued for violations of masking rules and another 18 tickets issued for non-compliance with vaccination requirements.

Videos of the rowdy 154 passenger Sunwing flight to Cancun made the rounds on social media in early January. Footage showed unmasked passengers drinking, vaping, and singing and dancing in the aisle of the plane.

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The flight took off two weeks after the federal government advised Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside of the country in the midst of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The group’s return flight from Mexico was cancelled by the airline after the videos began circulating. Air Canada and Air Transat also refused to book the groups return trips, leaving a number of the passengers stranded.

Transport Canada launched an investigation on Jan. 4. Alghabra’s office says the investigation is ongoing and there could be more punishments to come.

With files from The Canadian Press