The parents of a child born on a trans-Pacific flight to Japan say they're happy to be back in Canada with their unexpected new arrival.

Wesley Branch, 24, and Ada Guan, 23, returned home to B.C. on a flight from Tokyo Sunday afternoon with their new baby girl, Chloe, in their arms. The arrival marked the end of a week-long ordeal for the couple, who left Calgary not knowing they had a child on the way.

Moments after exiting the plane, Branch said he was "happy to be home" and excited to introduce his newborn to his parents, who were waiting at the airport.

"We're just glad they're home safe," new grandma Sandra Branch told reporters.

Guan gave birth to baby Chloe in the middle of a Calgary-to-Tokyo flight on May 10. She had boarded the Air Canada plane not knowing she was pregnant.

Guan began experiencing chest pains during the flight and "it just got worse from there," Branch said.

Guan said she'd previously taken a pregnancy test and it came back negative, so she was "shocked" when she realized she was giving birth on the plane.

"I really had no idea," she said.

Flight crews and three doctors on board helped Guan through five-and-a-half hours of labour before the baby finally arrived.

"She said, 'Babe, something fell out of me,'" Branch said, recalling the moment his child was born.

The child, named Chloe Grace Guan Branch, weighed seven pounds and eight ounces at birth, Branch said.

Guan and the baby were rushed to hospital when the plane landed and later released in good health.

The young family spent a week recuperating at their Japan hotel before flying home.

Branch said he and Guan are now looking ahead to "marriage and a happy life" with their new baby.

"It's been a challenge, but who can't take care of a baby?" Branch said. "If you have cats, you can take care of a baby."

In a Skype interview with CTV Vancouver last week, Branch said he is unemployed and that he and Guan have been dating for a year.

Branch's cousin has launched a GoFundMe page with a $5,000 goal to help the young couple pay for their newborn's travel and medical bills.

Branch dismissed those who have reacted negatively to their surprise baby story.

Last week, Dr. Doug Wilson of Alberta Health Services said it's plausible for a woman to carry a baby to term without realizing she is pregnant. Women in these cases simply fail to recognize the obvious symptoms of pregnancy, Wilson said.

"They're not expecting to get pregnant," Wilson told CTV's Canada AM on Wednesday. "When they start to miss their periods they don't appreciate or even think they're pregnant."

Last week, Guan told CTV Vancouver she just thought she was "gaining a little bit of weight," and didn't know she was pregnant.

Air Canada says it is safe for a pregnant woman to fly within the first 36 weeks of her pregnancy.

Doctors estimate Guan was 37 weeks pregnant at the time she gave birth, Branch said.

With files from CTV Vancouver