Student group returns after flight delayed by Brussels attacks

Bailey Dumonceaux is exhausted, but glad to be home after waiting nearly a week to return home from a volunteering trip in Senegal.

Dumonceaux and her group arrived in Vancouver just after 1 a.m. Saturday after a return journey that lasted nearly 45 hours.

Her student group's return flight was originally scheduled to fly through the Brussels airport on March 27, but the airport was shut down following the terrorist attacks in the city on March 22.

"It was shocking … I wasn't really sure what that meant for us, coming back home and stuff," said Dumonceaux, standing with family at Vancouver International Airport early Saturday morning.

"Not knowing how they were going to get home was the worst part," said Karen Dennehy, Bailey's mother. "We're super excited now that she's home."

For Riverside secondary student Sean McCallum, the added length of the trip was stressful, but rewarding.

"Things like malaria pills, we had to worry about that," said McCallum. "We knew we were in a safe area ... we'd go to the beach, just try to take our mind off things."

"Definitely got closer with a lot of people here."

Long return home

The French immersion students left on March 12 to volunteer in the West African country of Senegal. They were supposed to fly home on March 27.

Air Canada says it had been working since March 25 to find seats for the group on another airline to an alternate European airport. 

The company was able to get the group a flight home on March 31, via Istanbul.