Air France flight to US diverted to Montreal due to Ebola travel restrictions
TORONTO– An Air France flight to Detroit was diverted to Montreal after a passenger from Congo “by mistake” boarded a flight in Paris due to flight restrictions linked to the Ebola outbreak, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Thursday.
An agency spokesperson said the passenger “should not have boarded” the plane on Wednesday because of U.S. entry restrictions put in place to reduce the risk of spreading the Ebola virus.
The spokesperson said in an email that officials “took decisive action and prohibited the flight carrying this traveler from landing at Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport, and instead diverted him to Montreal, Canada.”
Air France said the Congolese passenger was denied entry to the United States because of new regulations under which travelers from certain countries, including Congo, can only enter via Washington.
The Department of Homeland Security also said that as of Thursday, all U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents who have traveled to Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in the previous 21 days must enter only through Washington-Dulles International Airport for enhanced screening.
Craig Currie, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada, said U.S. officials informed Canadian authorities that the plane was denied entry due to their temporary travel restrictions on anyone who had traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda and South Sudan in the previous 21 days.
Currie said a public health official in Montreal assessed the traveler as asymptomatic. He said the traveler had returned to Paris.
“Air France flight AFR378, along with all other passengers, continued to their original destination, Detroit,” Currie said in an email.
The World Health Organization declared the Ebola outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday. The outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo virus, which is rarer than others and there is no vaccine or medicine available against this virus.
