Air Canada To Launch Toronto Billy Bishop-Ottawa Flights 

Air Canada is adding to its offering from Toronto Billy Bishop Airport (YTZ) by starting flights to Ottawa (YOW) from Oct. 31.

YTZ, an island airport with direct access to downtown Toronto, is the home base of Porter Airlines, which resumed operations in September after a 15-month grounding because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Air Canada started flights between YTZ and Montreal (YUL) on Sept. 8, the same day as Porter’s restart.

Air Canada’s YTZ-YOW route will be operated 4X-daily by Jazz Aviation, Air Canada’s sole regional partner, using De Havilland Canada Dash 8-400 turboprop aircraft. The flights will be flown under the Air Canada Express brand. The route’s frequency will be increased to 8X-daily in Air Canada’s summer 2022 schedule.

"Air Canada's new service from Toronto Island to Ottawa will conveniently link Canada's capital directly with the center of the country's leading business center,” Air Canada senior VP-network planning and revenue management Mark Galardo said.

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“This new route is designed to meet customer demand in this heavily travelled market, with a large business travel component, and complement our recently resumed Montreal-Toronto Island airport service. It is a further example of how Air Canada is rebuilding its network, including by adding new routes and destinations in our determination to emerge from the pandemic an even stronger airline.”

Air Canada offers a complimentary shuttle bus service between downtown Toronto and YTZ.

Photo credit: Rob Finlayson

Aaron Karp

Aaron Karp is a Contributing Editor to the Aviation Week Network.