Transport Canada has issued fines to six passengers on the now famous Sunwing flight, which traveled from Montreal to Cancun on December 30, for boarding a plane without being fully vaccinated.
These fines can cost them up to $5,000.
The federal government has decreed the obligation for all passengers to be vaccinated to take a flight from Canada, and this rule has been in effect since November 30.
Transport Canada says it opened an investigation as soon as it was notified of allegations of “unacceptable behavior” that took place on this flight.
Videos from inside the plane have circulated widely on social media: images appeared to show passengers not wearing masks, without distancing, singing and dancing in the aisle and on the seats.
The six passengers targeted today may not be the only ones to have to loosen their purse strings to pay these fines: Transport Canada has already indicated that the investigation is still ongoing, and that it is ” expect further sanctions to be issued in the coming days and weeks.” There were a total of 154 passengers on that flight, according to the ministry.
Passengers can also be fined for violations of other aviation safety laws and regulations, for example, if they smoked during the flight.
These fines from Transport Canada are in addition to the twelve “notices of non-compliance” that were distributed in January by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to some of the passengers on this flight.
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