Air France flight diverted to Montreal amid U.S. Ebola travel restrictions

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says an Air France flight bound for the United States was diverted to Montreal after a passenger from the Democratic Republic of Congo boarded "in error" amid flight restrictions tied to the Ebola outbreak in Africa.

A spokesperson for the U.S. agency said the passenger "should not have boarded" the plane because of entry restrictions put in place to reduce Ebola risk.

Online plane tracker FlightAware showed the plane was en route from Paris to Detroit when it landed at Trudeau International Airport on Wednesday. The U.S. border agency said it was taking "necessary measures" to protect public health in co-ordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed the plane was diverted to Montréal-Trudeau International Airport.

"On May 20, at approximately 16:30, the United States informed Canadian authorities that Air France flight AFR378 from Paris to Detroit was refused entry to the United States due to their temporary travel restrictions for anyone who travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and South Sudan within the previous 21 days," spokesperson Craig Currie wrote in an email.

Currie said a Canadian government quarantine officer assessed the traveller and "determined they were asymptomatic." The traveller then departed back to Paris.

The flight and the rest of its passengers continued to Detroit, Currie said.

A spokesperson for Montreal's international airport said the diverted flight did not impact airport operations. "Again, it needs to be clear: the diversion was due to a restriction from the U.S. government and not to the passenger's health condition," the airport spokesperson wrote.

Air France said the passenger was denied entry into the U.S. because of new regulations that travellers from certain countries, including the Congo, can enter only through Washington.

Health officials are on alert as a deadly outbreak of a rare type of Ebola called Bundibugyo ravages the Congo and neighbouring Uganda.

Ontario's Health Department says one person has been tested for several infectious diseases, including Ebola, out of an abundance of caution due to the person's travel history. The Public Health Agency of Canada says samples are expected to arrive at the National Microbiology Laboratory on Thursday. 

The World Health Organization has reported almost 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths, though officials believe the scale of the spread is much larger.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2026.

— With files from Aaron Sousa in Edmonton

By Morgan Lowrie | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.