Air Canada boosting service out of Ottawa

Air Canada is boosting service out of the Ottawa International Airport with up to 30 additional weekly flights for the winter season, increasing service to Chicago, Washington and Halifax and adding more capacity on flights to Vancouver.

The announcement comes as Mayor Mark Sutcliffe says he is working to create more direct air links between Ottawa and International destinations.

Air Canada announced on Friday it is boosting its schedule serving Ottawa by almost 60 per cent, including year-round flights to Calgary and Winnipeg and additional capacity on flights to Halifax, Quebec City and Vancouver.

• Sign up now for our daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

The airline says it will continue to offer two flights daily from Ottawa to Vancouver, with one flight on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with capacity for up to 298 passengers.

Air Canada resumed daily service from Ottawa to Calgary and Winnipeg this spring, and the service has now been extended to year-round. As of July 1, Air Canada will offer three flights daily from Ottawa to Halifax.

This winter, Air Canada's joint venture partner United Airlines will increase service to Chicago and Washington-Dulles by one flight a day.  Air Canada says starting this winter, Air Canada and United Airlines will offer the following service to U.S. destinations, excluding Florida:

• Ottawa to Chicago (three times daily)
• Ottawa to New York-Newark (three times daily)
• Ottawa to Washington-Dulles (three times daily)
• Ottawa to Washington-Reagan (once daily)

Air Canada will also increase service to sun destinations this winter to four times weekly from Ottawa to Cancun and Punta Cana.

"Ottawa is an important part of Air Canada's network and in response to demand, we are growing our capacity to our nation's capital city by almost 60 per cent compared to 2023," Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President, Revenue and Network Planning at Air Canada, said in a statement.

"We are very excited to add more flights to the rest of the country with the extension of key non-stop routes to year-round and additional capacity to other cities. We are also adding capacity to popular sun destinations and in conjunction with our joint venture partner United Airlines, increasing options for travel to and from the U.S."

Sutcliffe says he is "delighted" to see Air Canada increase service in and out of Ottawa.

"This is great news for Ottawa's economy and recognizes the importance and vibrancy of the Ottawa market on the world stage," Sutcliffe said.

"It's particularly welcome news for the tourism industry, for business owners, and for Ottawa residents travelling to destinations throughout North America."

Porter Airlines has added several flights out of Ottawa over the past year, including to St. John's, Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton and Florida.

Travellers at Ottawa Airport on Friday told CTV News they want to see more direct flights to the U.S. and beyond.

"You typically have to hop somewhere," said Carl Bermel, who is heading to Arizona. "There aren't a lot of direct flights from Ottawa, so it's usually to Chicago or Toronto. I'd like to see more flights; more direct flights to the U.S. and Europe."

Anne Evans is heading to Paris with her husband and said more international flights would be welcome.

"They took away the one to Heathrow – that was a direct flight. Now you have to do the Ottawa to Montreal or Ottawa to Toronto," she said.

Try Jagiella, heading to Chicago said it can be inconvenient to travel out of Ottawa.

"I'm going to Chicago so I have an hour-long layover in Toronto at Billy Bishop City airport and then I get on the plane," he said.

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Sam Houpt.