The trip was promoted as a New Year's Eve celebration in Cancn, Mexico, and included parties with open bars and a day at the beach in the Yucatn Peninsula.
The guests would be entertained by a D.J. on the flight from Montreal to Mexico.
The trip has turned into a fiasco after airlines shunning the group and stranding many of its members and the Canadian authorities vow to investigate after videos of the passengers surfaced on social media showing them violating Canada's Covid-19 restrictions.
In the videos, the passengers are seen dancing and jumping in the aisles, yelling without masks, and passing around bottles of alcohol. A woman is in a cabin. A passenger wearing a mask yells at his fellow travelers over the cabin intercom to sit down and keep the energy up.
The passenger in the video says, "Let's hear some noise, welcome to the private club!", referring to an online group that was founded by James William Awad, a musician and self-proclaimed entrepreneur. The passengers yell back in approval.
The country's health minister, Jean-Yves Duclos, told reporters on Friday that 27 of the 130 passengers on the flight are back in Canada.
He said that they were tested for Covid-19 and asked about their vaccine and their plans.
Many passengers were stuck in Mexico after at least three airlines said they wouldn't fly them back.
Mr. Awad said in a statement that the private club was working hard to get everyone back home safely. He said that he understood why many fellow citizens were upset. I decided to host a private and safe event in Cancn with my group from the 111 private club.
The passengers could face fines of up to $5,000 for violating Canada's Covid-19 restrictions, which forbid passengers from traveling without masks.
Trudeau said the behavior seen on the plane was a slap in the face to people who have abided by Covid-19 restrictions.
He said that he was frustrated like all Canadians who had seen those videos. We know how hard people have worked to keep themselves safe, to limit their family gatherings at Christmastime, to wear masks, to get vaccinations, and to do all the right things.
Sunwing Airlines canceled the return flight to Canada after an internal investigation found that the passengers behaved in a way that did not respect aviation or public health regulations.
The company said in a statement on Friday that the decision to cancel the return flight was based on the group's refusal to accept all terms and the security team's assessment that noncompliance would be based on their previous disruptive onboard behavior.
Mr. Awad said in his statement that he had agreed to every demand made by the airline but objected to Sunwing not providing meals during the five-hour return flight. He later wrote on the social networking site that he had simply asked Sunwing to try and do something about it.
Sunwing did not say if the captain was aware of what was happening during the flight to Mexico or how the flight crew responded to the passengers.
Air Canada denied flights to 19 people who were linked to the group.
Air Canada denied boarding to passengers who were part of the group to make sure the safety of other passengers and crews was not jeopardized.
Air Transat, a Canadian airline, refused to take the passengers back home after they tried to book a flight through the airline.
Air Transat said that they will be denied boarding based on their legal and regulatory obligations to ensure the safety of both their passengers and crew.
Mark Millam, the vice president of technical programs for the Flight Safety Foundation, said that the passengers crowding the aisles made it difficult for flight attendants to move through the cabin and help anyone who could have been hurt or needed medical attention.
The passengers in the aisles could have been seriously injured if the turbulence had hit the plane. He said that the aircraft was not designed to be a dance floor.
The trip was the first travel event planned by the 112 Private Club, which Mr. Awad described as a dream and a vision.
He said that he was still learning from the experience.
Isaid reported.
