Ukrainian family among passengers stranded at Montreal airport after Flair Airlines cancelled flight

A family fleeing the war in Ukraine has been stranded in Montreal for four days, after Flair Airlines cancelled their connecting flight to Calgary.

The family of five has been staying at a Montreal hotel at Quebec taxpayers’ expense since then, and being told by Flair that it has no flight to Calgary for them until December 19.

"They came here to start a new life and now they are being given the run-around by this airline," Kyryl Bindyukevych, a Quebecer who works with a Quebec government agency that welcomes Ukrainian immigrants, told CTV News.

Terezia Honak, 32, flew with her husband Petro and their three children from Ukraine to Paris and then to Montreal on Thursday. That is when they say Flair Airlines cancelled their scheduled flight to Calgary on December 9.

"They didn’t tell us anything about this," Honak said through a translator Monday night as she waited near the Flair Airlines counter at the airport.

The flight was initially rescheduled until Monday then cancelled again. Monday night, the family found out Flair had booked them on an Air Canada flight set to leave Montreal at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. 

"Unfortunately, our passengers in Montreal were impacted by unforeseen flight cancellations this weekend," said Flair spokesperson Mike Arnot.

"Flair Airlines sincerely regrets this situation, particularly for the family that has already made an undoubtedly long journey from Ukraine. The airline is putting the passengers up in a hotel tonight and has made arrangements to fly them to their final destinations as soon as possible, including on other airlines."