Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW/CYOW)

[NOWINYOW]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

Nice. That’s a good sign, PD have notified the Airport Authority that they plan on having more departures than the terminal can handle at peak times. Maybe it means for use on the transborder side? It’s also going to depend upon what the competition looks like next winter with the combined WG/WS and F8.

Today’s departure count: 71, including 9 sun flights

Today’s cancellation count (so far): 0

If used for Transborder, which gate will the shuttle bus use between terminal and aircraft? I think gate 2 transborder is the only gate sans jetway?

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by NOWINYOW

If used for Transborder, which gate will the shuttle bus use between terminal and aircraft? I think gate 2 transborder is the only gate sans jetway?

Pretty sure 2 has a jetway and 4 is the sole remaining ground position. I remember pre-pandemic the Airport Authority said they bought a pair of airside shuttle buses. Guess those would be used for the remote stands.

Certainly way cheaper in the short-term than a terminal expansion.

[MountainView]

Correct, Gate 4 is the only one without a bridge on the transborder side.

[originalmuffins]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

Nice. That’s a good sign, PD have notified the Airport Authority that they plan on having more departures than the terminal can handle at peak times. Maybe it means for use on the transborder side? It’s also going to depend upon what the competition looks like next winter with the combined WG/WS and F8.

Today’s departure count: 71, including 9 sun flights

Today’s cancellation count (so far): 0

Maybe as Porter invests more into the market, it could mean YOW could work with Porter on a YOW+ 2.0 with them. Would be really awesome once we can start snagging some more direct international routes.

[wingman]

Originally Posted by Justanothermember

Is it eliminated though? This route appears to be removed during the summer, however from 28 October Ott-Tor flights are available for booking again on the WS website.

This message appears on the Westjet booking page now as well:

"Service to Ottawa ends on Sat Apr 27 2024 and resumes on Sun Oct 27 2024."

Wonder if that is going seasonal or is only gone for the summer?

Also, seems the flight only runs on a 135 frequency.

[Dominion301]

YWG's Q4 and year-end pax numbers are out. YOW has just edged out YWG by just over 1,000 pax to regain its traditional 6th busiest position.

YWG full year 2023

Sector / Y-E 2022 / Y-E 2023 / % Change
Dom: 2,795,720 / 3,607,922 / +29.1%
TB: 164,906 / 320,884 / +94.6%
Int'l: 70,488 / 165,987 / +135.5%
TTL: 3,031,114 / 4,094,793 / +35.1%

YOW full year 2023

Sector / Y-E 2022 / Y-E 2023 / % Change
Dom: 2,708,999 / 3,202,899 / +18.2%
TB: 190,335 / 576,133 / +202.7%
Int'l: 93,000 / 316,882 / +214.8%
TTL: 2,992,334 / 4,095,914 / +36.5%

[fanofYOW]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

Must have been planned like last week. Frequency reductions during the winter doldrums I suppose. Wouldn’t be surprised to see next winter’s daily service to only be 5x weekly some weeks from mid-January thru to the end of February.

Forgive my ignorance, but is this common practice for airlines to flat out reduce frequency last minute just because the flights are not filling fast enough? If so, how do they communicate this to pax who have already booked the cancelled flight?

[rocketphish]

United Airlines joins Porter, Air France in upping service to Ottawa airport

Mia Jensen, OBJ
February 6, 2024 3:01 PM ET

United Airlines is increasing its flights between Ottawa and Washington, D.C. this spring, a spokesperson from the company says.

Starting in April, the company will fly three times daily between Dulles International Airport (IAD) and the Ottawa International Airport (YOW), according to spokesperson Brian Hammel. That’s up from two flights daily currently.

In a recent press release, the U.S.-based carrier said it was expanding flights to multiple destinations across the country in a bid to bolster its presence in Canada.

The company unveiled a number of summer flights to 100 new destinations across the U.S. and Canada and outlined plans to “strengthen its position as the largest U.S. carrier to Canada, offering the most flights to the most destinations.”

This summer, United said it will serve a total of nine Canadian cities with more than 150 daily flights.

United Airlines is currently the only U.S.-based carrier that operates through Ottawa, according to YOW spokesperson Krista Kealey.

In a statement to OBJ, Kealey said United is “doing well with service to Washington-Dulles, Newark, and Chicago-O’Hare.”

According to Kealey, the Ottawa airport continues to recover from the pandemic, with passenger volumes expected to return to pre-pandemic levels this year.

“We’re at about 80 per cent of pre-pandemic volumes and tracking to reach our pre-pandemic peak of 5.1 million in 2024,” says Kealey.

Transborder travel, meaning flights between YOW and U.S. destinations, grew 202 per cent in 2023 from 2022, with 576,133 passengers. In the years leading up to the pandemic, the airport recorded between 647,000 and 720,000 annual transborder passengers through Ottawa.

United is not the only airline with plans to expand in 2024.

Air France is expected to boost the frequency of its direct Ottawa-Paris route from five times weekly to daily this summer.

Porter Airlines, which Kealey called “YOW’s fastest growing carrier,” also intends to continue expanding its offerings throughout the year, she said.

https://obj.ca/united-airlines-uppin...ttawa-airport/

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by fanofYOW

Forgive my ignorance, but is this common practice for airlines to flat out reduce frequency last minute just because the flights are not filling fast enough? If so, how do they communicate this to pax who have already booked the cancelled flight?

Well I guess it would depend. If it was never put on the schedule to begin with, there's nothing to see. If it was scheduled, but was cancelled say 3 months out due to low bookings, I would imagine AF would have given those that already booked the choice of the YUL bus the same day, move to a different day with a nonstop or provide a full refund.

[Dominion301]

Today’s departure count: 71, including 10 sun flights

Today’s cancellation count (so far): 0

[Dominion301]

Check out this article about YOW from 1969 (credit: Blaine Peters):









Blast from the past. Pax stats from the article:
-400,000 in 1962
-748,000 in 1967
-900,000 forecast in 1972

[RomanR27]

I noticed the first YOW-YYZ on Porter this summer was pushed back to arrive at YYZ at 0918. With a minimum connection time of 1:15, this eliminates connections to YYZ-FLL departing at 1015 and YYZ-SFO at 1030. You can connect to YYZ-LAX however.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by RomanR27

I noticed the first YOW-YYZ on Porter this summer was pushed back to arrive at YYZ at 0918. With a minimum connection time of 1:15, this eliminates connections to YYZ-FLL departing at 1015 and YYZ-SFO at 1030. You can connect to YYZ-LAX however.

Unless PD are planning on adding an additional early morning YOW-YYZ?

Today’s departure count: 74, including 9 sun flights

Today’s cancellation count (so far): 0

[RomanR27]

Originally Posted by Dominion301

Unless PD are planning on adding an additional early morning YOW-YYZ?

Or direct service to FLL, SFO (and LAX)

[JakeLRS]

Flair's November Transborder Loads from YOW.

Ottawa - Sanford: 46.4% (+16%)
Ottawa - Ft. Lauderdale: 67.4% (+12%)
Ottawa - Las Vegas: 73.5% (+2.2%)

Almost a lock Porter picks up LAS if Flair doesn't bring it back (they likely arent)

[VaskoYOW]

Little PD news….their pilot base at YOW will be opening in June! YUL in July and YVR is October. This announcement is from an e-mail that was sent today to their employees. Also once they reached 100 E2’s, YOW will have 25 E2’s based here. That’s huge for YOW!
I’ll share more, once more news come in.

[rocketphish]

New United connection to Washington illustrates FlyYOW's post-pandemic recovery

Staff Reporter, Ottawa Citizen
Published Feb 08, 2024 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 2 minute read

It’s been a struggle, but Ottawa’s Macdonald-Cartier International Airport continues to recover from the beating it took under COVID-19.

The latest development is a recent announcement by United Airlines that it will be increasing its trips between Ottawa and Washington-Dulles airport this spring.

Beginning in April, the U.S. carrier will fly three times daily between Dulles Airport (IAD) and Ottawa. United currently offers two daily flights.

The increase is part of a larger plan for the carrier to broaden its services across Canada. This summer, United said it would serve nine Canadian cities with a total of more than 150 daily flights.

United Airlines is currently the only U.S.-based carrier that operates through Ottawa, according to airport vice-president Krista Kealey.

Kealey said the United announcement was the latest evidence of the airport’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We reached 4.1 million passengers in 2023 — about 80 per cent of pre-pandemic traffic,” Kealey said via email.

“Domestic traffic has been recovering since 2021, so the increase year over year appears to be meager at 18 per cent (a year), but is demonstrative of continued growth,” Kealey said.

Transborder travel is recovering well, Kealey said, with United Airlines adding frequency to routes to Newark, Washington Dulles and Chicago..

International traffic, led by Air France, experienced 241 per cent growth, while non-stop destinations to sunshine destinations continue to grow.

Beginning April 7, Air France intends to upgrade its aircraft to a 324-seat A350-900, and begin daily service as of June 10.

Meanwhile, the Toronto-based Porter airline continues to grow its Ottawa operation, with new service to Calgary and added frequency to many domestic destinations.

Porter continues to introduce their new Embraer E195-E2 jets to longer haul routes. They’ve been in service at YOW since the airline inaugurated service to Vancouver last spring.

In addition, Porter is expected to open maintenance hangars at the airport soon.

“All of this puts us on track to reach pre-pandemic levels in 2025,” Kealey said in the email.

“Business travel, particularly from the federal government continues to lag,” Kealey said.

Leisure traffic volumes confirm that Ottawa-Gatineau passengers are anxious to travel, Kealey said.

Kealey also noted the airport has rolled out new concessions in the Canada/International “holdroom,” making local flavours such as Big Rig, La Bottega Nicastro and Bridgehead in the new Canal Market Hall food court.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...demic-recovery

[fanofYOW]

Originally Posted by VaskoYOW

Little PD news….their pilot base at YOW will be opening in June! YUL in July and YVR is October. This announcement is from an e-mail that was sent today to their employees. Also once they reached 100 E2’s, YOW will have 25 E2’s based here. That’s huge for YOW!
I’ll share more, once more news come in.

That’s awesome. Quite the range of destination options 25 planes can operate. It aligns with my original thought of a 40-25-25-10 split (YYZ-YOW-YUL/YHU-YHZ). It was a pure guess though.

[Dominion301]

Originally Posted by VaskoYOW

Little PD news….their pilot base at YOW will be opening in June! YUL in July and YVR is October. This announcement is from an e-mail that was sent today to their employees. Also once they reached 100 E2’s, YOW will have 25 E2’s based here. That’s huge for YOW!
I’ll share more, once more news come in.

The equivalent of 25 E2s at YOW would just about guarantee the likes of YYT, YQR, YXE, YYJ, YLW, SFO, LAX, LAS, seasonal YDF and/or YQX, TPA, RSW, maybe SRQ, take-your-pick sun destination, feed into AA hubs, particularly DFW, CLT, MIA & PHX (making a big but probable codeshare prediction) launch by the end of the decade (maybe even YOW-SEA by the late 2020s) plus whatever Dash 8 additions they make.

@Vasko, any talks of more DH4 acquisitions? When does the first hangar officially open?

[VaskoYOW]

Originally Posted by fanofYOW

That’s awesome. Quite the range of destination options 25 planes can operate. It aligns with my original thought of a 40-25-25-10 split (YYZ-YOW-YUL/YHU-YHZ). It was a pure guess though.

Allegedly the split will be 35-25-25-15 / YYZ-YOW-YVR-YUL/YHU!