Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW/CYOW)

[solo748]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

LIR was the only sun route that went daily last year (and IIRC it was originally announced at only 2x weekly), so clearly there was pent up demand in this market for Costa Rica that exceeded even their own initial projections. That's why I was guessing SJO with its elevation may be pushing the range to YOW, given how successful they were with Costa Rica last year. Although given LIR is reducing to 4x weekly this winter, perhaps they ended up overcorrecting in the end.

The capacity glut at PD is so atypical. Often it's the network additions that tell the story at an airline (frames are scarce, frames are expensive, frames on the ground make no money). I'd suggest at PD it's almost opposite. They have so much slack, it's the freq cuts and citiy-pair discontinuations that tell the story.
Whether LIR went daily bc they had to send their airplanes somewhere or the route was meeting expectations, I'm not sure. As you say, 4X this winter is very telling in an ample slack environment

My comments about SJO were only that the decision was not aircraft-performance related

Speaking of cuts, just tried to book FLL for Thanksgiving and it's only 2X weekly in October? What?? Sure this was covered up thread but I was shocked

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by acottawa

I didn’t say anything about business class. I just said that if your travel policy allows a travel day and a hotel before your meeting then the comparison would be between arriving a day before in the morning vs arriving the day before late at night, not arriving on the redeye the day of your meeting.

The cost to the employer is the day's productivity since the worker is traveling during working hours with a day flight. Alternatively, they reach in the morning but fly "on their own time". But really if you're making people travel during their time off the clock, you're making it up elsewhere. Might as well let them have the travel day.
.

[rocketphish]

New international flights speak to growing Ottawa travel market, says analyst
Air Transat's inaugural flight from Ottawa to London-Gatwick left the runway last week

Nathan Fung · CBC News
Posted: May 18, 2026 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

The launch of several new international routes from Ottawa's airport — including one that debuted last week to London — shows airlines see promise in the local travel market, according to one industry analyst.

On Friday, Air Transat held a special ribbon cutting at the Ottawa International Airport to mark their first non-stop flight from the city to London's Gatwick Airport.

It's the second direct route between the two cities after Air Canada relaunched non-stop service from Ottawa to London’s Heathrow Airport last year.

Porter has also rolled out several international flights from Ottawa in recent months, including to the U.S. cities of Miami and Phoenix and to Costa Rica, the Bahamas and other sunny destinations.

University of Ottawa student Olivia Onesi, one of the many passengers on board the inaugural London-Gatwick flight, and said more direct routes are welcome.

"This is gonna make it so much more convenient to go to Europe, because instead of having to go four hours to another city, you can just go from Ottawa," she said.

Howard Liebman, Air Transat's vice-president of government relations, said the airline added the new route in response to passenger demand.

"The people of Ottawa-Gatineau and the wider area were looking for another option to take them to London and to Europe," he said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ottawa airport lost flights to places like London and Frankfurt.

When Air France started direct flights between Ottawa and Paris in 2023, it marked a return to Europe for the airport.

Since then, international traffic has been growing. According to the airport authority's annual report for 2025, international trips went up by 12 per cent.

The addition of new routes speaks to the strength of the Ottawa travel market, said John Gradek, a faculty lecturer on aviation management at McGill University.

"People still fly because it really is a cultural experience ... they really want to experience different parts of the world. So I think Air Transat and Porter recognize that," he said.

Gradek also noted the ongoing volatility around fuel prices has been causing trouble for Air Transat.

In a news release issued the same day as the inaugural flight to London-Gatwick, the airline said the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz has exacerbated the increases in aviation fuel prices.

The impacts of those increases will be reflected in its financial results, to be released mid-June.

Gradek said it's possible Air Transat could re-evaluate its Ottawa-London direct route sometime in the future as a result.

"There's a dark cloud on the horizon," he said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ne...awa-travel-market-says-analyst-9.7202874

[Dominion301]

Today’s departure count: 93

Today's cancellation count (so far): 1

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

The cost to the employer is the day's productivity since the worker is traveling during working hours with a day flight. Alternatively, they reach in the morning but fly "on their own time". But really if you're making people travel during their time off the clock, you're making it up elsewhere. Might as well let them have the travel day.
.

And for most people, spending the travel day mostly in London, getting acclimatized to a new time zone when there is natural daylight, is a better option.

[RomanR27]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

Today’s departure count: 93

Today's cancellation count (so far): 1

Today's AC889 was full in Y and PY, and 29/31 in J. This evenings AC888 is also full in PY and 26/31 J.

From a spotters alert, today's 333 is wearing the Star Alliance livery. There's also an AF 77W and AC 789 (YVR) today, all three flights are scheduled to depart between 1725 and 1855.

[fanofYOW]

According to page 9 of the 2025 review, I find it a bit interesting that the OAA is predicting a 6.1m pax volume by 2030 (19.6% increase) over ~4 years. However, they then assume only a flat 2% increase only year-over-year after 2030. Not sure if it's because it's easier for forecast the upcoming few years, or if they know the terminal will be prepped for more connecting pax, or if they are expecting a large network increase in the coming years (then it's up in the air post 2030). Hoping it's the latter.

https://yow-website.files.svdcdn.com/pro..._Annual_Report_2025_EN.pdf?dm=1777990713

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by acottawa

And for most people, spending the travel day mostly in London, getting acclimatized to a new time zone when there is natural daylight, is a better option.

Nah. I'd rather reach and sleep in a bed than have a bad night in Y, and walk around like a zombie for 5 hrs till I can check into my hotel.

Maybe the first time getting to London in my 20s that was cool. Not so much now.

And given that the day flights have historically had premiums attached, I'm not the only one thinking like this.

Also, the aircraft remaining overnight also enables an early departure which is better on this side.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Nah. I'd rather reach and sleep in a bed than have a bad night in Y, and walk around like a zombie for 5 hrs till I can check into my hotel.

Maybe the first time getting to London in my 20s that was cool. Not so much now.

And given that the day flights have historically had premiums attached, I'm not the only one thinking like this.

Also, the aircraft remaining overnight also enables an early departure which is better on this side.

I think almost everyone would prefer this if given the choice. The whole this is a bad thing for Ottawa argument is weird. It's unusul but redeyes aren't desireble hence their name.

[Djeffery]

I'm pretty sure my body clock will take a couple days to regulate itself either way, but I don't think I would have any problem at all going to bed in Europe after a daytime flight. I would still be awake for probably 14 or 15 hours and assuming the daytripper was say 9am or so and an 8 hour flight, I would probably be in bed around midnight local.

I'm not a power traveler and I'm already dreading the flight to Europe in 2027 for a cruise and the probably 10am local arrival time and how useless I'm going to be that day

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Nah. I'd rather reach and sleep in a bed than have a bad night in Y, and walk around like a zombie for 5 hrs till I can check into my hotel.

Maybe the first time getting to London in my 20s that was cool. Not so much now.

And given that the day flights have historically had premiums attached, I'm not the only one thinking like this.

Also, the aircraft remaining overnight also enables an early departure which is better on this side.

Maybe you can sleep on demand, but most people are not going to be able to sleep until they have been awake for 15 or 16 hours. Assuming someone gets up in Ottawa around 6 am, it will be about 4 am London time before they have been awake that long, which means most people would show up at a meeting with only a few hours sleep.

If daytime flights are at a premium why don’t airlines charge more for these? Why does Air Canada use its one daytime slot for its lowest demand route (Halifax/Ottawa) with its smallest plane that can cross the Atlantic?

[acottawa]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I'm pretty sure my body clock will take a couple days to regulate itself either way, but I don't think I would have any problem at all going to bed in Europe after a daytime flight. I would still be awake for probably 14 or 15 hours and assuming the daytripper was say 9am or so and an 8 hour flight, I would probably be in bed around midnight local.

I'm not a power traveler and I'm already dreading the flight to Europe in 2027 for a cruise and the probably 10am local arrival time and how useless I'm going to be that day

You can always go through Halifax, arrive at 9:00 pm local time (4:00 pm Ontario time). I just did a dummy booking in June. Air Canada charges exactly the same price for YYZ-LHR whether you transfer in Halifax or fly direct.

[Rhb]

Ottawa Airport Authority have released their passenger numbers for the month of April.

https://www.yow.ca/business/passenger-volume

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by acottawa

If daytime flights are at a premium why don’t airlines charge more for these?

They used to.

Originally Posted by acottawa

Why does Air Canada use its one daytime slot for its lowest demand route (Halifax/Ottawa) with its smallest plane that can cross the Atlantic?

Because the front of the bus drives all decisions for network carriers. And if you have a bed to sleep in, leaving after the work day is not relevant. Also, ergo it makes sense to use the larger aircraft and evening slots on cities that generate the most business demand. So not Ottawa and Halifax.

[kwoldtimer]

Originally Posted by Djeffery

I'm pretty sure my body clock will take a couple days to regulate itself either way, but I don't think I would have any problem at all going to bed in Europe after a daytime flight. I would still be awake for probably 14 or 15 hours and assuming the daytripper was say 9am or so and an 8 hour flight, I would probably be in bed around midnight local.

I'm not a power traveler and I'm already dreading the flight to Europe in 2027 for a cruise and the probably 10am local arrival time and how useless I'm going to be that day

I used to get early check-in and nap for a few hours on arrival in Europe but I now find that I do better by staying awake until 10pm and getting a full nights sleep.

[Dominion301]

Today’s departure count: 89

Today's cancellation count (so far): 0

[RomanR27]

Originally Posted by Rhb

Ottawa Airport Authority have released their passenger numbers for the month of April.

https://www.yow.ca/business/passenger-volume

I am surprised that TB was (barely) positive, and that international was only barely positive.

For TB, UA had IAD up to 4x daily so there is 10x daily frequencies there across their network (not sure if that compares to 8x or 9x last April). PD would have had more capacity with MIA going until mid-April and PHX until the end of the month - though LAS ran in April 2025 as well. Though TPA and RSW both ended early in April. AC also abandoned all TB flying by April 4th whereas in April 2025, they ran FLL and MCO until the end of the month. WS also did not run RSW this year.

On the international front, I guess CDG and LHR were flat year-over-year (CDG might have even been slightly down??), and PD's sun additions would be counteracted by AC's early wrap up (CUN/PUJ also ran until the end of April last year, TQO might have hung on until mid-April as well).

Speaking of UA, the first mainline 319 flight from ORD arrives Thursday evening with the first outbound flight being Friday morning. It now has been extended to run through the rest of the summer schedule, switching back to all regional airline ops on 25OCT.

AC has also loaded PUJ/CUN to finish for the season on 16APR/17APR, respectively, so a 2-week longer season than this past winter. MBJ and NAS are still set to end the first weekend in April.

[Rhb]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

I am surprised that TB was (barely) positive, and that international was only barely positive.

For TB, UA had IAD up to 4x daily so there is 10x daily frequencies there across their network (not sure if that compares to 8x or 9x last April). PD would have had more capacity with MIA going until mid-April and PHX until the end of the month - though LAS ran in April 2025 as well. Though TPA and RSW both ended early in April. AC also abandoned all TB flying by April 4th whereas in April 2025, they ran FLL and MCO until the end of the month. WS also did not run RSW this year.

On the international front, I guess CDG and LHR were flat year-over-year (CDG might have even been slightly down??), and PD's sun additions would be counteracted by AC's early wrap up (CUN/PUJ also ran until the end of April last year, TQO might have hung on until mid-April as well).

Speaking of UA, the first mainline 319 flight from ORD arrives Thursday evening with the first outbound flight being Friday morning. It now has been extended to run through the rest of the summer schedule, switching back to all regional airline ops on 25OCT.

AC has also loaded PUJ/CUN to finish for the season on 16APR/17APR, respectively, so a 2-week longer season than this past winter. MBJ and NAS are still set to end the first weekend in April.

I expected April numbers to be around 400k. Each month seems to have around 20kish over last year’s same monthly totals.

Looking at TB and International passengers numbers compared to Domestic totals, it’s nice to see that percentage increase. So people from NCR are responding to airlines flying direct routes instead of domestic connections.

[RomanR27]

Originally Posted by Rhb

I expected April numbers to be around 400k. Each month seems to have around 20kish over last year’s same monthly totals.

Looking at TB and International passengers numbers compared to Domestic totals, it’s nice to see that percentage increase. So people from NCR are responding to airlines flying direct routes.

Currently YoY there is a 6.3% increase YTD, if that holds for the rest of the year we'd be just short of 5.2M. I'd imagine May will be healthily positive, given that we are already seeing total departure numbers breaking post-Covid records (and the previous records were broken last winter IIRC, so we are probably up a good 5-10 departures a day compared to this time last year).

[Richard Eade]

Something to keep in mind when looking at April 2025 – April 2026 numbers is that the big ‘Elbows Up’ drop in flyers had already happened by April 2025. You won’t see another 25% drop from that level. The slight increase in TB is just due to the normal annual growth. Car travel is similar, with a (disappointing) 5.8% increase in boarder crossings. Which, of course, cuts into the previous 30% drop due to the “We’re pissed-off and not going to take our money there any more” reaction. Those feelings have really waned as people begin to discover that they miss what they used to have. Most people are all for taking the moral high-ground – unless it actually negatively affects them personally, or their finances. Check out all of the U.S.A products that are back in stores, and how few Canadian products are now flagged.