YOW
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (IATA: YOW, ICAO: CYOW) is a large airport in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It opened on 20 Aug 1938. It has 3 runways; the longest is 3,048 m (10,000 ft). In 2024 it handled 4.5 million passengers.
Timeline
1 event · 1938–193820 AUG 1938
OpenedOttawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport opens.
From Wikidata and WikipediaEvery airfield, 1903–2026
Runways & airfield
Schematic · N · © OpenStreetMap14/32126° / 306° · LIT
LENGTH3,048 m10,000 ftWIDTH61 m200 ftSURFACEAsphalt
07/25057° / 237° · LIT
LENGTH2,438 m8,000 ftWIDTH61 m200 ftSURFACEAsphalt
04/22026° / 206°
LENGTH1,006 m3,300 ftWIDTH23 m75 ftSURFACEAsphalt
Passengers per year
2013–20244.6M
4.6M
4.7M
4.7M
4.8M
5.1M
5.1M
1.4M
1.2M
3.0M
4.0M
4.5M
131415161718192021222324
Routes
54 destinations · 12 countriesYear-round32
YULMontreal / Pierre Elliott Trudeau International AirportCanada · Air Canada, Propair151 km94 miYTZBilly Bishop Toronto City AirportCanada · Porter Airlines351 km218 miYYZToronto Pearson International AirportCanada · WestJet, Porter Airlines, Air Canada363 km226 miYQBQuebec Jean Lesage International AirportCanada · Propair368 km229 miYHMJohn C. Munro Hamilton International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines415 km258 miYSBSudbury AirportCanada · Propair422 km262 miBOSBoston Logan International AirportUnited States · Porter Airlines498 km309 miEWRNewark Liberty International AirportUnited States · United Express, Porter Airlines529 km329 miYQGWindsor International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines675 km419 miYFCFredericton International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines713 km443 miIADWashington Dulles International AirportUnited States · United Express724 km450 miYQMGreater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines857 km533 miYHZHalifax / Stanfield International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines955 km593 miYYGCharlottetown AirportCanada · Porter Airlines977 km607 miORDChicago O'Hare International AirportUnited States · United Express1,051 km653 miYQTThunder Bay International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines1,091 km678 miYVPKuujjuaq AirportCanada · Canadian North1,503 km934 miYWGWinnipeg / James Armstrong Richardson International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines1,689 km1,049 miYYTSt. John's International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines1,767 km1,098 miMCOOrlando International AirportUnited States · Porter Airlines1,943 km1,207 miYFBIqaluit AirportCanada · Canadian North2,097 km1,303 miFLLFort Lauderdale Hollywood International AirportUnited States · Porter Airlines2,178 km1,353 miYRTRankin Inlet AirportCanada · Canadian North2,206 km1,371 miYEGEdmonton International AirportCanada · WestJet, Porter Airlines2,849 km1,770 miYYCCalgary International AirportCanada · WestJet, Porter Airlines, Air Canada2,878 km1,788 miCUNCancún International AirportMexico · Porter Airlines2,888 km1,795 miYZFYellowknife International AirportCanada · Canadian North3,100 km1,926 miYLWKelowna International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines3,267 km2,030 miYVRVancouver International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines, Air Canada3,552 km2,207 miYYJVictoria International AirportCanada · Porter Airlines3,582 km2,226 miLHRLondon Heathrow AirportUnited Kingdom · Air Canada5,346 km3,322 miCDGCharles de Gaulle International AirportFrance · Air France5,658 km3,516 miSeasonal24
YULMontreal / Pierre Elliott Trudeau International AirportCanada · Air Transat151 km94 miORDChicago O'Hare International AirportUnited States · United Airlines1,051 km653 miYDFDeer Lake AirportCanada · Porter Airlines1,441 km895 miYWGWinnipeg / James Armstrong Richardson International AirportCanada · WestJet1,689 km1,049 miMCOOrlando International AirportUnited States · Air Canada1,943 km1,207 miTPATampa International AirportUnited States · Porter Airlines2,022 km1,256 miRSWSouthwest Florida International AirportUnited States · Porter Airlines2,158 km1,341 miFLLFort Lauderdale Hollywood International AirportUnited States · Air Canada2,178 km1,353 miMIAMiami International AirportUnited States · Porter Airlines2,210 km1,373 miNASLynden Pindling International AirportBahamas · Porter Airlines, Air Canada2,261 km1,405 miPLSProvidenciales International AirportTurks & Caicos Islands · Porter Airlines2,637 km1,639 miPOPGregorio Luperon International AirportDominican Republic · Air Transat2,881 km1,790 miCUNCancún International AirportMexico · WestJet, Air Canada, Air Transat2,888 km1,795 miGCMOwen Roberts International AirportCayman Islands · Porter Airlines2,941 km1,827 miMBJSangster International AirportJamaica · WestJet, Porter Airlines, Air Canada2,989 km1,857 miPUJPunta Cana International AirportDominican Republic · WestJet, Air Canada, Air Transat3,051 km1,896 miYZFYellowknife International AirportCanada · Air North3,100 km1,926 miPHXPhoenix Sky Harbor International AirportUnited States · Porter Airlines3,356 km2,085 miAUAQueen Beatrix International AirportAruba · Porter Airlines3,689 km2,292 miPVRPuerto Vallarta International AirportMexico · WestJet, Porter Airlines3,847 km2,390 miSJDLos Cabos International AirportMexico · Porter Airlines3,935 km2,445 miLIRDaniel Oduber Quirós International AirportCosta Rica · Porter Airlines3,975 km2,470 miYXYWhitehorse / Erik Nielsen International AirportCanada · Air North4,150 km2,579 miLGWLondon Gatwick AirportUnited Kingdom · Air Transat5,378 km3,342 miCargo7
YMXMontreal Mirabel International AirportCanada · FedEx Express133 km83 miBUFBuffalo Niagara International AirportUnited States · FedEx Express360 km224 miYHMJohn C. Munro Hamilton International AirportCanada · Cargojet415 km258 miJFKJohn F. Kennedy International AirportUnited States · FedEx Express543 km337 miINDIndianapolis International AirportUnited States · FedEx Express1,069 km664 miMEMFrederick W. Smith International AirportUnited States · FedEx Express1,664 km1,034 miYFBIqaluit AirportCanada · Canadian North, Cargojet2,097 km1,303 miMost destinationsPorter Airlines 34Air Canada 11WestJet 8Air Transat 5FedEx Express 5Canadian North 4
Straight lines are great circles; rings mark true distance from YOW. Dashed: seasonal or charter. Blue: cargo. From the Wikipedia article “Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport” (revision of 23 Sep 2026), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Records & rankings
Ranked among 48,011 open airports · world · region · countryScale: share of airports ranked below, best on the right · ties shown as = and a band · passengers are each airport’s latest year on record
Radio frequencies
9 channelsARROttawa Arrivals135.150
ATISEnglish ATIS121.150
CLNC DELOttawa Clearance119.400
DEPOttawa Departures128.175
GNDOttawa Ground121.900
RCOQuebec Radio123.150
TWROttawa Tower118.800
ATISFrench ATIS132.950
TMLOttawa Terminal127.700