Travel: Flights to Ottawa

The newly renovated and expanded MacDonald-Cartier International (airport code YOW) is Ottawa's main airport with regular arrivals and departures from most major Canadian and many American cities. Services outside North America, however, are limited to a daily flight to London Heathrow with Air Canada, less frequent flights with Zoom Airlines to London Gatwick and Glasgow (via Halifax NS). Air France, KLM, and Swiss International Airlines provide shuttle bus service between Ottawa and Montreal that facilitate connections with their flights operated from Trudeau International Airport. This trip takes about two hours. ViaRail also operates a shuttle bus from the Dorval train station to nearby Trudeau International Airport. This free service allows one to travel from Ottawa to Dorval (a suburb of Montreal) by rail, and then transfer directly to the airport on a dedicated on-demand bus.

MacDonald-Cartier is easily reached by public transit or taxi and most of the major car rental agencies have a presence at the airport terminal in the parking garage. A taxi to downtown hotels should cost between $20 and $30, while a taxi to nearby hotels should not cost more than $10.

To reach downtown via public transit, take the #97 bus (the only bus at the airport) and get out at the MacKenzie King transitway stop (approx. 14 stops) at the Rideau Centre. If you take this route before 6:00am you will likely follow the more meandering early morning route, but will still get to MacKenzie King. To get to the train station you also take the #97 bus, but get out at Hurdman station and transfer to the #95 eastbound bus to the next stop which is the train station. Bus fare is $3 ($1.90 with pre-purchased tickets) which gives you 1.5 hours of unlimited bus travel, or $7.25 ($6 pre-purchased) for an all-day pass. Remember to ask the bus driver for a transfer, even if you do not intend on transferring to another bus - OCTranspo security personnel may get on the bus at any given stop and ask passengers for proof of payment. You will be required to show your transfer or else you will be fined.