YOW doesn't decide where airlines fly

Re: Letter, Bring international flights back to Ottawa's airport, March 26.

The letter-writer calls for the reopening of the Ottawa International Airport (YOW) to international flights.

To clarify, YOW is open to international flights. Airlines decide where to fly their aircraft, not airports nor the government. Granted, for a period during the pandemic, the federal government did limit landing rights to the four largest airports in Canada: Toronto-pearson, Montreal-trudeau, Vancouver and Calgary, leaving YOW with domestic flights only. We fought hard along with Halifax, Winnipeg and Edmonton airports to have all landing rights restored. We were delighted when the first flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. arrived on Nov. 21, 2021.

Since then, we have built back our U.S. and other international offerings significantly, including non-stop service to Paris-charles de Gaulle, key transborder destinations such as Washington DC, New York, Chicago and Boston, multiple Florida airports, and numerous holiday favourites in the Caribbean and Mexico.

Another clarification is the notion that YOW is taxpayer-funded. In fact, the Airport Authority pays the federal government millions in rent annually, as a percentage of revenues generated. Airports in Canada are private, not-for-profit entities governed by boards of directors under federal regulation. They are not funded by taxpayers but are user-funded through fees charged to airlines and fees generated through concessions, parking, etc. Additionally, airport authorities levy an Airport Improvement Fee on all departing passengers. This pays for essential capital infrastructure and is added to airline tickets.

Before the pandemic, YOW enjoyed non-stop service to London-heathrow and Frankfurt on Air Canada. Service to Frankfurt was to be assumed by Star Alliance partner Lufthansa until COVID-19 upended travel. YOW sits between Montreal and Toronto, two significant hub airports whose markets are substantially larger and can often offer airlines better profitability than Ottawa-gatineau. Our team maintains regular dialogue with airlines while providing data to demonstrate that ours is an important market worth serving.

Finally, our passenger composition has changed dramatically over the past four years: the concentration of business travel has shifted to leisure as the federal government and other employers work remotely. This change has affected how airlines choose to serve Ottawa- Gatineau.

We continually seek new airline partnerships and network connections and are making important infrastructure improvements to provide an efficient, accessible travel experience. Krista Kealey, vice-president, Communications, Ottawa International Airport Authority