Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport

Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport is the principal commercial airport for Canada's national capital region and one of the country's ten busiest airports by passenger volume, serving the Ottawa-Gatineau metropolitan area's roughly 1.5M residents and drawing catchment from the Ottawa Valley and parts of eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Located 6 mi (10 km) south of Parliament Hill at 374 ft (114 m) elevation, YOW is unusually close to its host city's center for a major Canadian airport. It handles 92 routes across 54 destinations through 21 airlines. The airport is named for Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier, the two principal architects of Canadian Confederation. YOW functions as a secondary hub for Air Canada, WestJet, and Porter Airlines, and a significant operating point for Flair and Lynx within the Canadian ultra-low-cost segment. U.S. service is provided by Air Canada, Delta, United, and American, connecting Ottawa to hubs including New York–LaGuardia, Newark, Washington–Reagan, Chicago–O'Hare, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, and (seasonally) Florida leisure destinations. European service centers on Air Canada seasonal Frankfurt and London–Heathrow flights, Air Transat, and periodic charter operations. As the federal capital's airport, YOW handles unusually significant diplomatic, parliamentary, and government aviation traffic, along with substantial military-adjacent civil activity given the city's concentration of federal departments. The airport is home to the National Research Council's Flight Research Laboratory and supports significant private and general aviation activity serving the diplomatic corps. The airfield has three asphalt runways — 14/32 at 10,000 ft (3,048 m) as the primary, 07/25 at 8,000 ft (2,438 m) as crosswind, and 04/22 at 3,300 ft (1,006 m) for light general aviation — supporting full widebody operations. The current passenger terminal opened in 2003 with a subsequent 2008 concourse extension, replacing the 1960 original and featuring a distinctive linear airside concourse, CBSA international arrivals hall, and consolidated U.S. pre-clearance facilities for U.S.-bound traffic. YOW is operated by the not-for-profit Ottawa International Airport Authority under federal lease. The O-Train light-rail extension reaching the airport, long planned, is under construction as part of the Stage 2 LRT expansion that will provide the airport's first direct rail connection.