It’s official – the Ottawa International Airport has now reached the 5 million passenger per year milestone. It officially happened on December 23rd, 2018. At year end, the airport served 5,110,801 passengers, which is an increase of 5.6% over 2017, and a new record.
To mark the anticipated milestone, the Ottawa International Airport Authority launched “Sparty on the Shelf” – a promotion designed to engage passengers, employees and the general public. In collaboration with the Ottawa Senators, 19 Spartacat dolls were hidden around the airport in restaurants and retail locations. People were encouraged to find Sparty, take a selfie, and post it to Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #YOW5million. Prizes were drawn throughout the campaign, with the Grand Prize winner announced on January 2nd. Tanya J from the Smiths Falls area was the lucky winner of two round trip tickets to any destination served non-stop from YOW and $5,000 in spending money. Looks like she’s considering escaping Ottawa’s winter to one of our many sunshine destinations. Congratulations, Tanya!
“Five million passengers is an important milestone for the Ottawa International Airport, and for the City of Ottawa. The distinction puts YOW in the next class of airport in terms of size, but more importantly, confirms that the local economy is doing well,” said Mark Laroche, President and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority. “We are delighted with the positive response to our #YOW5million promotion to celebrate this milestone, and congratulate all participants and winners. We are also grateful to all of the passengers, airport employees, airline partners and other stakeholders who not only chose to fly YOW, but contributed to this achievement.”
While the significant increase in passenger volume cannot be attributed to a single factor, our large base of domestic flights saw steady gains, transborder frequencies increased with mid-day service introduced on several key routes, and international traffic enjoyed a strong end of year growth.
