Why doesn't Canada's capital airport get heavies?

[Jan-Jasinski]

Ok, so spotters and I at YOW/CYOW/Ottawa International Airport get kind of tired of the same stuff coming down here. We get rare stuff mostly in the winter time. Our biggest scheduled flights are 767's from YYZ, LHR and FRA. Occasionally the ACA A333. I don't understand why a decent airport that can get 747's, 777's and AN-124's on the runway and onto the tarmac's/gates more often! Maybe Ottawa isn't such a big city as Toronto of course, but since it's the capital, I find we should get more heavies! We had First Air 762 come, but recently it has been go to Val D'or in Quebec. Other than that we get a occassional CargoJet 757 and FedEx A300. Is there any way I can contact someone to tell them this? Thanks

[Curtis Malone]

Tell them what?

[porter guy]

it's because Ottawa doesn't have a very large market. What's there to see in Ottawa besides Parliament and a few war museums. Besides, most people who go to Ottawa are from Toronto and are there for business. An airport doesn't get certain services just because it can handle them. Look at both airports in Saskatchewan. They can both handle 747's but do they get any? No. Airlines don't operate for spotters. It's the same as which came first, chicken or egg. Although the answer is more obvious. Which came first, the spotter or the aircraft.

[Curtis Malone]

Airlines don't operate for spotters.

Are you trying to cause mass suicide or what?

[CathayPacific]

If there's a demand for seats, airlines will surely send the heavies in. It's quite astounishing that the airlines can sustain 767 and A333 trans-Atlantic operations at Ottawa given its size. It may be the capital but that has absolutely no meaning except that it will provide some unique customer base for airlines among the politicians, their staff and the media.

There are many countries that the capital is not the largest (or even the top-5 or top-10 largest cities) in their countries. And Ottawa is having some very good airline services and coverage compare to those already. Examples are Canberra of Australia, Wellington of NZ, Hanoi of Vietnam, Brasilia of Brazil, Proteria of South Africa and even Berlin of Germany. All these countries are some major and well-known countries. But have you even heard about Canberra? All people know about Australia is Sydney and Melbourne. All Canberra has is some 737 to major cities in Australia. Wellington scores better with some services to other Pacific islands, but also 99% of the services is on 737 and 320. Hanoi enjoy services to many cities across Asia but you will find they are mostly served with again, 737 and 320, although Hanoi does have a limited number of wide-bodies flights to Europe, but it is definitely dwarfed by Ho Chi Minh City. Proteria doesn't even have an airport!

[KGEG]

Its Pretoria, not Proteria. And it does have a small airport if you even count this one, but you probably knew that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderboom_Airport

And recently I learned Ottawa was chosen as the capital because of its strategic location as many capitals are. Not too far from the St. Lawrence and it has a river going through it itself, but not easy for enemies warships to get to still. Since its inland ground troops have farther to go than just crossing the border (which is one reason why Seoul-Incheon is an easy target for NK). Pretty much it's not out of the way but its not suppose to be easy to get to in the event of war either.

Of course that has nothing to do with what your talking about completely. Rather, I'm saying that's why it's the capital in the first place, not because its a major international business center, like Toronto, which of course was the capital off and on in the old days.

[KMRY_Executive]

Hey, at least you get those. Down here at MRY, the biggest we see commercially is an MD80. Of course the occaisonal BBJ..but still, quit your whining .

What i did(am doing) right now, is putting a proposal together on new routes/airlines to fly in here to Monterey. Of course..there is a larger demand for airlines here than in Ottawa, but even if they say no, put it together and give it to them Always worth a try!

[EconomyClass]

Isn't travel to Toronto rather easy when you live in Ottawa? Maybe you should be taking the trip. I've been to Toronto from the USA. Had a very good time as a visitor there. Never did see any airports, but that isn't my thing. I think 9/11 pretty much screwed up airports as a place to visit. Now its just a place to pass through.

[Peter Kesternich]

(...)Never did see any airports, but that isn't my thing. I think 9/11 pretty much screwed up airports as a place to visit. Now its just a place to pass through.

Well - just passing through Europe's airports is a damn shame. We have some of the best plane spotting in the world here, especially in Germany.

[LH-B744]

In Ottawa live less people than in an 20km-area around my house. And nobody has ever asked to land A388s here directly at the nearest regional airports (due to some good reasons).

Even EDDL, which is "our" airport, has lost its LH-A343s. Now we have LH-A333, DL-B763ERs and, yes, indeed some bigger ones. EK triple sevens. But why can't a domestic airline send some scheduled 70m-giants to EDDL?

Well, either the airport is too small (!) or the connections are too weak (international fast trains to all towns in a 400 km radius, or at least international airport buses within a 350 km radius?). Even EDDL does not fulfil that. And transporting 400 or 500 pax from 1 flight to their homes/to their hotels is indeed a task, in addition to the "normal" train traffic/highway traffic.
I could imagine LH-A346s from EDDL to Brazil, to Israel, and to South Africa.
And at least in a simulation it is possible to do that, I used a LH-A343 from EDDL nonstop to Johannesburg.
But I did not simulate yet the regional highways/trains during the 5 hours before such a well attended long haul flight.

Edit: You better don't think of such a flight if all passengers move in their own 5metre-cars... That would mean a 3 kilometre-traffic-jam just because of ONE arriving flight.
Edit: Capacity is indeed an issue. I don't know how many passenger seats are in one of those double decker trains that are often seen at DUS railway station. Do you know that?
If you have once travelled in one of those when DUS is operating international flights, you immediately are convinced that these trains are much too small.

[Ychocky]

We had an AN-124 in today, and United Express ERJ-145 skidded off 25.

This thread shoukld be bumped daily until the EK 380 diverts here.

[EconomyClass]

So the runways will handle the biggest wide body jets?

[LH-B744]

We had an AN-124 in today, and United Express ERJ-145 skidded off 25.

This thread shoukld be bumped daily until the EK 380 diverts here.

4 million pax per year for a capital airport, that indeed is not much. But:
You have connecting flights to Montreal, which is nearer to Ottawa than EDDF is to EDDL... .. I think you have better regional flights than EDDL!

Let me conclude the Ottawa nonstops:
CYUL, CYYZ, CYVR, EDDF (!), KIAD and KORD, etc etc.
And via CYYZ you have a 1-stop connection to my home airport.

EDDL does not offer a KIAD nonstop, although we have 18 million passengers instead of 4. So, I don't think that CYOW is a bad destination/a bad place to start.

[Jan-Jasinski]

We had an AN-124 in today, and United Express ERJ-145 skidded off 25.

This thread shoukld be bumped daily until the EK 380 diverts here.

Yesterday was a crazy day, ERJ, ACA A333 and AN-124??? I didn't know about that one, is it still there and why when did it come Lawrence? I am wanting to see that EK as well.

[Jan-Jasinski]

Woah!!! Did I just see a A310?? Something big turning sharply from my house, could have been the Polaris, 11:12AM maybe someone knows?