Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW/CYOW)

[Dominion301]

Today’s departure count: 85

Today's cancellation count (so far): 0

AF 327 on gate 15A, AC 345 on 28 & AC 888 on 14A

A belated note but last Thursday's LHR was on the Olympic 330.

[Dominion301]

Today’s departure count: 87

Today's cancellation count (so far): 0

[RomanR27]

AC888/889 this week

Monday: AC889 23/31 J, 17/24 PY; AC888 29/31 J, 22/24 PY
Wednesday: AC889 24/31 J, 15/24 PY; AC888 30/31 J, full PY, full Y
Thursday: AC889 15/31 J, PY 11/24; AC888 31/31 J, 23/24 PY
Saturday: AC889 28/31 J, full PY, full Y; AC888 full J/PY/Y

[Dominion301]

Solid AC 888/889 loads this week.

Today’s departure count: 90

Today's cancellation count (so far): 0

[Rhb]

Here’s an interview from OpenJaw with Air Transat CRO Sebastian Ponce on codesharing and adapting. Some of you might find of interest.

https://openjaw.com/videos/tv-room/codesharing-and-adapting-air-transats-sidestep-strategy/

[Rhb]

Ottawa Airport Authority just released their passenger numbers for August 2026.

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

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by Rhb

Ottawa Airport Authority just released their passenger numbers for August 2026.

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

That August international number will yield a much higher seat factor vs June & July. Transborder returns to negative territory - coincidence with no World Cup vs the prior two months?

Sector / Aug-25 / Aug-26 / % Change
Dom: 372,765 / 389,021 / +4.4% - 3rd highest ever monthly count
TB: 55,804 / 54,405 / -2.5%
Int'l: 27,343 / 35,665 / +30.4% - 4th consecutive record summer season month
TTL: 455,912 / 479,091 / +5.1%

Sector / YTD 2025 / YTD 2026 / % Change
Dom: 2,434,439 / 2,553,878 / +4.9%
TB: 513,705 / 503,766 / -1.9%
Int'l: 336,764 / 420,552 / +24.9%
TTL: 3,284,908 / 3,478,196 / +5.9%

August % of traffic recovered vs 2019 / YTD vs 2019
Sector / August / YTD % recovered
Dom: 99.7% / 95.3%
TB: 107.1% / 104.0%
Int'l: 137.4% / 134.0%
TTL: 102.6% / 100.0%

12 Months Rolling / % Change vs Year End 2024
Dom: 3,773,723 / +10.0%
TB: 716,372 / -3.4%
Int'l: 569,429 / +31.2%
TTL: 5,059,524 / +9.8%

[RomanR27]

I think overall TB capacity increased from July to August since PD added the third weekly MCO back.

International seat factor was 90.8%: 35,665 pax in 39,282 seats.

AF had 21,424 total seats with 26 772s, 4 high density 77Ws and a premium heavy 77W. At worst, AF had an 81.7% seat factor (assuming every other carrier was going out 100% full).

AC had 17 round trips on the 330 and one on the 788 for 10,608 seats.

Transat's 13 round trips gives 5,174 seats, and PD's 9 CUN round trips add another 2,376.

Originally Posted by Rhb

Here’s an interview from OpenJaw with Air Transat CFO Sebastian Ponce on codesharing and adapting some of you might find of interest.

https://openjaw.com/videos/tv-room/codesharing-and-adapting-air-transats-sidestep-strategy/

Ottawa wasn't mentioned here at all, but the couple tidbits that could be applied to YOW are that they have found the Porter codeshare to be beneficial, and have found that there is a willingness to pay a premium for direct flights to avoid connecting. This was mentioned in the context of them serving secondary European cities from YYZ/YUL to avoid a transfer in Europe (Toronto to Valencia was the example) -- could that logic also be flipped for YOW-based pax wanting to avoid a YYZ or YUL connection to have service to primary European cities? Time will tell.

[Rhb]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

I think overall TB capacity increased from July to August since PD added the third weekly MCO back.

International seat factor was 90.8%: 35,665 pax in 39,282 seats.

AF had 21,424 total seats with 26 772s, 4 high density 77Ws and a premium heavy 77W. At worst, AF had an 81.7% seat factor (assuming every other carrier was going out 100% full).

AC had 17 round trips on the 330 and one on the 788 for 10,608 seats.

Transat's 13 round trips gives 5,174 seats, and PD's 9 CUN round trips add another 2,376.



Ottawa wasn't mentioned here at all, but the couple tidbits that could be applied to YOW are that they have found the Porter codeshare to be beneficial, and have found that there is a willingness to pay a premium for direct flights to avoid connecting. This was mentioned in the context of them serving secondary European cities from YYZ/YUL to avoid a transfer in Europe (Toronto to Valencia was the example) -- could that logic also be flipped for YOW-based pax wanting to avoid a YYZ or YUL connection to have service to primary European cities? Time will tell.

Nice to see the local market response to additional transatlantic capacity this summer.

In my opinion Air Transat could do itself a favour with more meaningful codeshare partners in Europe.
If Air Transat has any more aspirations for YOW we won’t know until we see the news release.

[Dominion301]

Today’s departure count: 79

Today's cancellation count (so far): 1

[G650ER]

United has an A319 loaded to EWR tomorrow as UA676. Coming in as UA1811 from ORD. Seems to be a one off?