Regarding Canadian airports having more international flights than comparable cities in the states, I think multiculturalism is a big factor. Canadian cities just have a lot more international traffic with more personal and business ties to Asia, Europe, etc.
Here's a comparsion of YOW with some smaller US cities. Pretty amazing that Ottawa's international (transborder + international) traffic is almost as high as SLC which is a Delta hub!
Code:
Airport Metro CSA Domestic Intl Total
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YOW Ottawa [ref] 1,466,000 n/a [1] 3,700,000 1,200,000 [2] 4,900,000
ORF Virginia Bch 1,505,000 n/a [3] ~4,843,000 <50,000 [4] 4,893,000
MKE Milwaukee 1,575,000 ~2,060,000 ~5,660,000 ~210,000 [5] 5,874,000
JAX Jacksonville 1,360,000 ~1,897,000 ~7,430,000 ~145,000 [5] ~7,573,000 [6]
CLE Cleveland 2,165,000 ~3,770,000 ~9,580,000 ~420,000 [5] 10,004,000
BNA Nashville 1,350,000 ~2,402,000 ~24,990,000 ~726,000 [5] 25,716,000
SLC Salt Lake City 1,226,000 ~2,600,000 26,658,000 1,500,000 28,158,000
Notes — all figures are calendar year 2025- [1] Ottawa CSA: Canada uses the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) framework, not the US CSA system. Ottawa-Gatineau CMA = 1.47M; no direct CSA equivalent.
- [2] YOW intl: combines US transborder (0.7M) + overseas (0.5M) = 1.2M, per Ottawa Airport Authority 2025 annual report.
- [3] ORF/Hampton Roads: no formal CSA designation for this metro area.
- [4] ORF intl: no regular scheduled international service until late 2025 (seasonal Cancun); essentially all-domestic.
- [5] Dom/intl splits: estimated from totals and known route data. US airports do not typically publish this breakdown in annual press releases.
- [6] JAX 2025: fiscal year Oct 2024–Sep 2025 figure; full calendar year 2025 not yet published.
- CSA populations: US Census 2024 estimates where available; Cleveland-Akron-Canton CSA based on 2020 census (~3.77M). Milwaukee-Racine-Waukesha and Salt Lake City-Provo-Orem CSAs lightly updated from 2020 base.
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