Ottawa airport to resume international flights Oct. 31

International flights will resume at the Ottawa airport next weekend for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic brought travel to a halt.
Flair Airlines is resuming non-stop flights to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Oct. 31 and Orlando on Nov. 1. As well, United Airlines is resuming flights to Washington Dulles starting Nov. 1.
It’s the start of a gradual resumption in international flights to and from Ottawa. WestJet is resuming Cancun flights. WestJet is resuming service to Cancun on Nov. 13.
Sunwing also plans to add flights to warm destinations early next month. Those flights will initially stop in Montreal or Toronto, but will be non-stop service by mid-November.
Air Canada’s first flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. is at the beginning of December, with more locations in the U.S. and Caribbean added as the holiday season approaches. Air Transat is adding flights to Caribbean destinations by the end of November.
The return of air travel beyond Canada is welcome news for the airport, which has taken a huge financial hit because of the reduction in air travel during the pandemic.
About 125,000 passengers passed through the Ottawa airport in September, about 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels for that month. It’s a big improvement from early in the pandemic, when passenger traffic was as low as 10 per cent of normal numbers.
About 660,000 passengers have used the airport so far this year. Airport officials hope an increase in air travel in the next few months will help them reach the one-million mark by the end of the year.
The airport authority’s CEO estimated early in the pandemic that it could need to borrow $100 million over the next three years to stay afloat.
For much of the pandemic, international flights were only allowed to land at four Canadian airports: Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. Those regulations were lifted Aug. 9.
On Thursday, the federal government quietly lifted its advisory against all non-essential travel abroad.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING | Budget 2023 prioritizes pocketbook help and clean economy, deficit projected at $40.1B
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.

BREAKING | Budget 2023 proposes across-the-board 3 per cent spending cut for government departments
The federal budget proposes an across-the-board three per cent spending cut for all departments and agencies, a belt-tightening move after years of massive growth in the federal public service.
Federal government capping excise tax on alcohol after outcry
The increase in excise duties on all alcoholic products is being temporarily capped at two per cent starting next month instead of a planned six per cent increase.
Projected cost of federal dental program set to more than double: Budget 2023
The federal budget shows the government's proposed dental-care insurance program will cost more than double what the Liberals originally thought, driving it up by another $7.3 billion over five years.
Could Canada soon standardize USB chargers? Feds looking into it, budget says
Tucked into the 2023 federal budget unveiled on Tuesday in Ottawa, the Liberals have announced plans to explore implementing a standard charging port across Canada, in an effort to save Canadians some money and reduce waste.
Ottawa commits consultation money for Indigenous resource sharing in Budget 2023
The federal Liberal government is committing $8.7 million to hold more consultations on Indigenous resource sharing, in a budget that offers relatively little new spending on its reconciliation agenda.
opinion | Amid escalating gun violence in America, the debate over gun control has been silenced
In the wake of another deadly mass shooting in America, that saw children as young as nine years old shot and killed, the gun control debate is going nowhere, writes CTV News political analyst Eric Ham.
Young children, the head of their school and its custodian. These are the victims of the Nashville school shooting
Another American community is reeling after a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. These are the three children and three adults whose lives were taken by the shooter.
Nashville police release chilling security camera footage of suspected school shooter
Nashville police have released security camera footage of a suspected shooter entering the private Christian elementary school. The shooting claimed the lives of three children, all aged nine, and three adults.