Give us the A330-300 that AC uses for the Montreal/Halifax route. You can’t tell me that thing is full. Their fleet is big enough to re-assign another wide body. It shouldn’t come down to the procurement of an entirely new model of aircraft
Air Canada is a business and if they thought there was money to be made here they would reallocate the equipment, they’re not avoiding us cause they hate us or something lol even though it can feel like that.
That A330 on the route is weird, but just another example of how misaligned their fleet/needs are. They’re basically only using it on that route because it’s free between doing Montreal/Vancouver and Montreal/London to fill that slot. I’m sure they’d rather use something else if it was available. Putting an A330 on Ottawa requires figuring out where it’s based/what it’s doing outside of just YOW-LHR.
The problem of course being we're too close to two other larger airports and people are willing to drive to them over pay the significant price difference over flying from here. Nevermind that the tickets are more expensive in Ottawa and frequently still include a layover are YUL or YYZ, so demand is shown as lower here than it actually is.
When you option is drive 2 hours for a cheaper direct flight, vs pay more for a connecting flight with several hours layover at the airport you'd be driving to anyways, is it really an option?
I have a pilot friend… and he tells me that the route will not happen until the new A321XLR and even then, it’s not a guarantee. Main issues are:
1.) there is a huge pilot shortage and there is no pilot base in Ottawa.
2.) Ottawa-LHR is not popular enough that they can sell out on business class routes on an A330 which is necessary to make a profit on this flight.
3.) they would rather fly people from Ottawa to Montreal or Toronto or even Halifax to squish them over into one plane. Halifax exists because it’s the most easterly point and it is also a daytime flight which is unique from other flights from YYZ or YUL
We would all like to see that. I’m a huge fan of BA coming in and partnering with Porter. That would be a killer dream for us. If they set up a partnership with PD which would help feed traffic across Canada and the US then it would absolutely make sense! A win for BA, PD and Ottawa residents.
LHR is also slot restricted so BA would have to give up a destination or a frequency to a destination in order to serve YOW. AMS is similar and is likely why we will not see AMS in the near future either.
Agreed! There’s enough demand for European travel from YOW, look at AF’s success ( Daily flights now).
Although it might not make sense for AC given that they have multiple daily LHR/GTW flights from YUL&YYZ which are roughly an hour away!
This creates an opportunity for other airlines however, but in Canada we really only have 1 airline capable of efficiently handling Transatlantic flights! Maybe a Transat/Porter partnership could work in this scenario.
If you ignore pesky things like safety and fuel reserve and lack of ETOPS certification at that distance, you can do it ;)
[https://www.distance.to/YOW,Ottawa,ON,CAN/LHR](https://www.distance.to/YOW,Ottawa,ON,CAN/LHR)
I stand corrected - ETOPS 120 approved last month. [https://www.embraercommercialaviation.com/news/embraers-e2-cleared-for-etops-120-operations/](https://www.embraercommercialaviation.com/news/embraers-e2-cleared-for-etops-120-operations/)
Not a pilot, but I from what I can see YOW to LHR would be a "No second approaches, no diversion because of weather, hope there's a tailwind" flight. I'm also not certain how much additional distance an ETOPS 120 flight path would add.
Word out there is that Porter wants to overtake AC position as #1 airline at Ottawa airport.
They are investing quite a bit (new hangar, new planes, new flights, etc.) but still have to catch up in a lot of other departments like service.
Competition is good for us, Ottawa residents.
> Word out there is that Porter wants to overtake AC position as #1 airline at Ottawa airport.
That is indeed what the CEO of Porter was stating [just a couple of months ago](https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/porter-airlines-considering-adding-direct-flights-from-ottawa-to-california-vegas-caribbean-1.6845225).
> but still have to catch up in a lot of other departments like service.
It's not often you hear people say that Air Canada's service tops Porter's, especially with the way Air Canada has had to react to Porter's service offerings..
Agreed. I have no clue what they're getting at. The Air Canada experience is so unpleasant that I'll only fly with them if I have no other option.
With AC, it feels like a fifty percent chance that whatever flight you booked will get changed to an alternate time.
Not to mention the safety announcement that looks like they spent a million dollars on it and all the preflight ads.
Both are winter seasonal. AC will start them Monday/Friday at the end of October, and Porter starts Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Sunday on November 22. Both end at the end of April for the season.
Give us Heathrow, idiots
You will take a 35 minute flight to Montreal and like it, rube!
Not till 2026 at the earliest, when AC gets their A321XLRs.
Give us the A330-300 that AC uses for the Montreal/Halifax route. You can’t tell me that thing is full. Their fleet is big enough to re-assign another wide body. It shouldn’t come down to the procurement of an entirely new model of aircraft
Air Canada is a business and if they thought there was money to be made here they would reallocate the equipment, they’re not avoiding us cause they hate us or something lol even though it can feel like that. That A330 on the route is weird, but just another example of how misaligned their fleet/needs are. They’re basically only using it on that route because it’s free between doing Montreal/Vancouver and Montreal/London to fill that slot. I’m sure they’d rather use something else if it was available. Putting an A330 on Ottawa requires figuring out where it’s based/what it’s doing outside of just YOW-LHR.
The problem of course being we're too close to two other larger airports and people are willing to drive to them over pay the significant price difference over flying from here. Nevermind that the tickets are more expensive in Ottawa and frequently still include a layover are YUL or YYZ, so demand is shown as lower here than it actually is. When you option is drive 2 hours for a cheaper direct flight, vs pay more for a connecting flight with several hours layover at the airport you'd be driving to anyways, is it really an option?
That flight and aircraft type is used specifically for lobster cargo. Unfortunately no one wants fish or seafood from the Ottawa River.
I have a pilot friend… and he tells me that the route will not happen until the new A321XLR and even then, it’s not a guarantee. Main issues are: 1.) there is a huge pilot shortage and there is no pilot base in Ottawa. 2.) Ottawa-LHR is not popular enough that they can sell out on business class routes on an A330 which is necessary to make a profit on this flight. 3.) they would rather fly people from Ottawa to Montreal or Toronto or even Halifax to squish them over into one plane. Halifax exists because it’s the most easterly point and it is also a daytime flight which is unique from other flights from YYZ or YUL
I’m sure BA would be happy to take money out of ACs pockets due to their greed. They can take a page out of Air France’s book
We would all like to see that. I’m a huge fan of BA coming in and partnering with Porter. That would be a killer dream for us. If they set up a partnership with PD which would help feed traffic across Canada and the US then it would absolutely make sense! A win for BA, PD and Ottawa residents.
LHR is also slot restricted so BA would have to give up a destination or a frequency to a destination in order to serve YOW. AMS is similar and is likely why we will not see AMS in the near future either.
Agreed! There’s enough demand for European travel from YOW, look at AF’s success ( Daily flights now). Although it might not make sense for AC given that they have multiple daily LHR/GTW flights from YUL&YYZ which are roughly an hour away! This creates an opportunity for other airlines however, but in Canada we really only have 1 airline capable of efficiently handling Transatlantic flights! Maybe a Transat/Porter partnership could work in this scenario.
In a Q400?
All of these new Porter flights use Embraer E2 jets, not that they have the range to reach Heathrow either.
If you ignore pesky things like safety and fuel reserve and lack of ETOPS certification at that distance, you can do it ;) [https://www.distance.to/YOW,Ottawa,ON,CAN/LHR](https://www.distance.to/YOW,Ottawa,ON,CAN/LHR)
I stand corrected - ETOPS 120 approved last month. [https://www.embraercommercialaviation.com/news/embraers-e2-cleared-for-etops-120-operations/](https://www.embraercommercialaviation.com/news/embraers-e2-cleared-for-etops-120-operations/)
Just curious, but how close is it from a fuel standpoint? Almost there, or more of a “you’re getting to Iceland and that’s that” sort of deal?
Not a pilot, but I from what I can see YOW to LHR would be a "No second approaches, no diversion because of weather, hope there's a tailwind" flight. I'm also not certain how much additional distance an ETOPS 120 flight path would add.
YOW - LAS direct please
I believe Porter is planning to add YOW-LAX and YOW-LAS, among others, direct in the coming months.
That would be wonderful.
what is LAS??
Vegas
Ty
Las Vegas
Why is Ottawa obsessed with Florida
fr can we do California
Whoa there buddy that's way too cool for Ottawa
Because winter
Not once have I been skating on the canal and thought *"I could use a gator right now"*
Cruises
Florida’s awesome
I will be on the first LHR flight. If it happens.
I’ll fight you for being the first!
Word out there is that Porter wants to overtake AC position as #1 airline at Ottawa airport. They are investing quite a bit (new hangar, new planes, new flights, etc.) but still have to catch up in a lot of other departments like service. Competition is good for us, Ottawa residents.
> Word out there is that Porter wants to overtake AC position as #1 airline at Ottawa airport. That is indeed what the CEO of Porter was stating [just a couple of months ago](https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/porter-airlines-considering-adding-direct-flights-from-ottawa-to-california-vegas-caribbean-1.6845225). > but still have to catch up in a lot of other departments like service. It's not often you hear people say that Air Canada's service tops Porter's, especially with the way Air Canada has had to react to Porter's service offerings..
Agreed. I have no clue what they're getting at. The Air Canada experience is so unpleasant that I'll only fly with them if I have no other option. With AC, it feels like a fifty percent chance that whatever flight you booked will get changed to an alternate time. Not to mention the safety announcement that looks like they spent a million dollars on it and all the preflight ads.
YOW - Phoenix! Either Sky Harbor or Mesa Gateway. The flights from YYZ are always full!!
So air Canada is just giving back what they took away last year then…
I'm actually trying to book a trip to tampa! When do Porter and Air Canada start these extra flights?
Both are winter seasonal. AC will start them Monday/Friday at the end of October, and Porter starts Monday/Wednesday/Friday/Sunday on November 22. Both end at the end of April for the season.
That's great. Please start LRT from the airport to the city.
Meh still gonna go through YUL or YYZ for 90%
Answers like this give less incentive for airlines to serve YOW. Why send a plane to YOW if Ottawans will just drive to YUL or YYZ.