Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW/CYOW) 1.0

[VaskoYOW]

Originally Posted by BenYOW

Air France is launching flights between Ottawa and Paris-Charles de Gaulle, with 5 weekly non-stop flights on the 224-seat Airbus A330-200 as of June 27. Flights are to operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Flights arrive at 3:05 PM and depart at 5:05 PM.

This is definitely an exciting development with respect to Ottawa's trans-Atlantic air service offerings!

Finally, thank you Air France!!!

My family and I are definitely using them this summer for our vacation in Europe.

Can't wait to see the counter attack by Air Canada...you know it's coming!

[Tesladom]

Originally Posted by VaskoYOW

Finally, thank you Air France!!!

[Calfan12]

Originally Posted by VaskoYOW

Finally, thank you Air France!!!

My family and I are definitely using them this summer for our vacation in Europe.

Can't wait to see the counter attack by Air Canada...you know it's coming!

Actually Air Canada won’t be adding a Ottawa - Europe yet, unless they free up a A330/ 787 currently doing Toronto YYZ, Vancouver YVR, Montreal YUL & Calgary YYC,AC international flight routes mostly.

When AC gets deliveries of the New Airbus 321 XLR planes ✈️, those 1’s are more suitable doing YOW - Europe flights.

[MountainView]

Straight from their press release... (my bold for emphasis)

Flight schedules (local times):

AF364: Departs Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 13:10, arrives in Ottawa at 15:05
AF361: Departs Ottawa at 17:05, arrives at Paris-Charles de Gaulle the following day at 06:15

Air France will be the only airline operating non-stop flights between Ottawa and Europe.

They are also retaining the 2x daily AF bus and 1x daily KLM bus to YUL

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by VaskoYOW

Finally, thank you Air France!!!

My family and I are definitely using them this summer for our vacation in Europe.

Can't wait to see the counter attack by Air Canada...you know it's coming!

How can they respond? I assume there isn't now time to resume a Frankfurt flight which would be a powerful symbol they will defend all their tier 2 cities and to stay out. Lufthansa would presumedly help them They can respond on price to Paris but also to some of the other routes Air France is likely to steal such as Middle East and East Africa. With the trainwreck Montreal and especially Toronto were last summer. Either option means we are in for a great summer of travel. Probably shouldn't get greedy and hope for a total price war but I bet we see some $599 flights at some point.

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

How can they respond? I assume there isn't now time to resume a Frankfurt flight which would be a powerful symbol they will defend all their tier 2 cities and to stay out. Lufthansa would presumedly help them They can respond on price to Paris but also to some of the other routes Air France is likely to steal such as Middle East and East Africa. With the trainwreck Montreal and especially Toronto were last summer. Either option means we are in for a great summer of travel. Probably shouldn't get greedy and hope for a total price war but I bet we see some $599 flights at some point.

Air Canada doesn't have free metal this summer. They had to give up a London slot so they could shift the plane to service China. Likley too late to shift anything else this close to summer.

They are scheduled to get 10 A321XLR in 2024, that is when the new expansion really starts and they can free up some other wide bodies if need be.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Via also requires arriving 30 minutes early.

No, VIA recommends that you arrive 30 minutes early (just like AC recommends that you arrive 2, 3 or even 4 hours early depending on your origin and destination). As long as you get on the platform before the doors close, you can board the train.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by roger1818

No, VIA recommends that you arrive 30 minutes early (just like AC recommends that you arrive 2, 3 or even 4 hours early depending on your origin and destination). As long as you get on the platform before the doors close, you can board the train.

Sitting next to a colleague who commutes from Montreal weekly and they laughed and confirmed. It's totally unnecessary and for the sheep. 30 seconds is doable.

[Calfan12]

Originally Posted by mxg308

Anyone know if this is just summer seasonal or year round?

On Air France AF website is showing Paris CDG- Ottawa YOW - CDG route is open for booking next winter too currently, (but it’s subject to change) as a lot of Airlines haven’t finalized its Winter flights schedules yet. Will see.

Plus wonder how well AF YOW flights will do this Summer 2023?

As Toronto YYZ, Vancouver YVR & Montreal YUL are the only 3 solid year round AF flights✈️ in Canada currently!

Also looks like WestJet is planning to go year round on the Calgary YYC- Paris CDG- YYC route operated by the WS Boeing 787 ,next winter season too? As currently it operates Spring/Summer seasons.

[VaskoYOW]

Originally Posted by Calfan12

Actually Air Canada won’t be adding a Ottawa - Europe yet, unless they free up a A330/ 787 currently doing Toronto YYZ, Vancouver YVR, Montreal YUL & Calgary YYC,AC international flight routes mostly.

When AC gets deliveries of the New Airbus 321 XLR planes ✈️, those 1’s are more suitable doing YOW - Europe flights.

If AC can’t restart YOW-LHR this summer, and are waiting on the 321’s to arrive in Q1 next year….Lufthansa can step in on YOW-FRA! Don’t forget they were scheduled to start flying this route pre-pandemic with the A340-300 (5 weekly) from YOW, taking over the route from AC. Time will tell….

Having said that I’ll be more than glad to give my money to AF!

[YOWhopeful]

Booked!!!
I had bought a round trop ticket to Paris in Business for July 21 (a Friday) and return August 6 in Premium economy. Just called Air France to change my ticket so I could leave Thursday July 20 instead, and take the direct flight. They obliged and I got a credit of $870 too for the price difference.
It is currently cheaper to fly out of Ottawa than Montreal on Air France!

[YOWflier]

Haha. Nicely done. Make sure you hit us up with a trip report.

I have 2 trips to Paris/France this year, one in April and the other in May dangit. Might reschedule one to later in the year now. The other I cannot.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by BenYOW

Air France is launching flights between Ottawa and Paris-Charles de Gaulle, with 5 weekly non-stop flights on the 224-seat Airbus A330-200 as of June 27. Flights are to operate on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Flights arrive at 3:05 PM and depart at 5:05 PM.

This is definitely an exciting development with respect to Ottawa's trans-Atlantic air service offerings!

Originally Posted by YOWflier

Sh*t just got real.

Amazing. Didn't think Air France would pull the trigger without the XLR. But 5x 332 is a great way to start. Having a Canadian (and former AC CCO and COO) as CEO of AFKL is finally paying dividends. He should see the opportunity in Ottawa more than anybody.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Sitting next to a colleague who commutes from Montreal weekly and they laughed and confirmed. It's totally unnecessary and for the sheep. 30 seconds is doable.

I've gotten dropped off 2 mins before a train and gotten on. 30 mins prior? The only time I've ever done that is to go to the lounge.

[Calfan12]

Originally Posted by VaskoYOW

If AC can’t restart YOW-LHR this summer, and are waiting on the 321’s to arrive in Q1 next year….Lufthansa can step in on YOW-FRA! Don’t forget they were scheduled to start flying this route pre-pandemic with the A340-300 (5 weekly) from YOW, taking over the route from AC. Time will tell….

Having said that I’ll be more than glad to give my money to AF!

Lufthansa won’t be adding Ottawa YOW anytime soon, as currently their Montreal YUL - Frankfurt FRA route is downgraded to (summer seasonal) since the Covid19 pandemic. And with Air Canada operating YUL - FRA year round.

Air France will be the (only foreign airline) for the time being on YOW- Europe nonstop. Eventually they’ll get competition on it by Air Canada at some point.

[YOWflier]

As an aside I feel as though BenYOW is often the bearer of good/interesting YOW news.

I like Ben.

More Ben, please.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I've gotten dropped off 2 mins before a train and gotten on.

I have parked my car 5 minutes before departure, and I didn't even have a ticket (though I did have a BizPak voucher which I was able to give to the conductor, even though the rules said you couldn't). That was about 20 years ago though.

30 mins prior? The only time I've ever done that is to go to the lounge.

If I'm driving to the station in rush hour, I will sometimes aim to be there 30 minutes early to give me time for bad traffic (hence the reason for the previous story).

[VaskoYOW]

Originally Posted by Calfan12

Lufthansa won’t be adding Ottawa YOW anytime soon, as currently their Montreal YUL - Frankfurt FRA route is downgraded to (summer seasonal) since the Covid19 pandemic. And with Air Canada operating YUL - FRA year round.

Air France will be the (only foreign airline) for the time being on YOW- Europe nonstop. Eventually they’ll get competition on it by Air Canada at some point.

LH YUL-FRA route has always been seasonal, even pre-pandemic! It’s definitely not a downgrade for them! YUL-MUC is year round with LH, even with AC flying to FRA from YUL.

Let’s see when AC/Star Alliance brings the competition to YOW!

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by VaskoYOW

LH YUL-FRA route has always been seasonal, even pre-pandemic! It’s definitely not a downgrade for them! YUL-MUC is year round with LH, even with AC flying to FRA from YUL.

Let’s see when AC/Star Alliance brings the competition to YOW!

Yeah and the second Star Alliance flight on the route. The question is if they want to cede Ottawa to Skyteam. The lack of domestic route means the 50-50 status seekers will still stay loyal but they've downgraded the perks so much and the points are worthless that I am not sure it is worth the hassle and risk of Pearson and Trudueu. Once you lose Gold Status it's so much easier to pick your flights based on convenience when someone else is paying.

[MountainView]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I've gotten dropped off 2 mins before a train and gotten on. 30 mins prior? The only time I've ever done that is to go to the lounge.

I've been late to a train before - can see it at Fallowfield as my ride is pulling in! Jump out and hustle and I am in.

That's the benefit of train travel!

I have taken Via out out the central terminal before, and when it's time to board, there is a line around the central ticketing office of people queuing to get on. Nonsense...we all have tickets for seats. I sit and wait until the queue is gone, then I go down the escalator to board.

It's like Southwest/Ryanair sometimes!