Porter launching winter service from Ottawa airport this week

Porter Airlines is launching new direct flights to sunny destinations out of Ottawa. CTV’s Kimberley Johnson reports.

Porter Airlines is launching its winter service from the Ottawa airport (YOW) over the next week, offering multiple flights to five sunny southern destinations.

The airline says travellers can fly non-stop from Ottawa to Puerto Vallarta, Nassau, Cancun, Liberia, and Grand Cayman, with all routes starting within the next seven days.

“These announcements today speak volumes about Porter’s belief in Ottawa and our future and their commitment to growing with us as a community,” said Mayor Mark Sutcliffe.

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At peak frequency, Porter will offer one flight per week to Nassau and six weekly flights to Puerto Vallarta starting Saturday, six weekly flights to Cancun and daily flights to Liberia starting Wednesday, and two weekly flights to Grand Cayman starting next Friday.

“The launch of these routes is a celebration of our growth to new regions and another demonstration of Porter’s commitment to Ottawa-Gatineau,” said Porter Airlines president Kevin Jackson in a news release. “This winter, Porter is offering more flights from YOW than any other carrier, serving 24 non-stop routes. We are giving local travellers more options than ever, while enjoying the elevated level of service and style that only Porter provides.”

The new flights were first announced in June. The announcement on Friday includes higher peak frequencies than first predicted on flights to Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Liberia and Grand Cayman.

Moranne St-Marie, who is travelling to Cancun, says having more options will be a great benefit.

“As a young family, we’re constantly looking for direct flights from Ottawa to Cancun or other destinations, just to make it easier to travel with young children,” she told CTV News Ottawa. “On our return, we’re coming back around 2 a.m. because that was the only direct flight on that day. So to have more options would be great.”

The news comes as Canadian travel patterns change in the wake of ongoing political turbulence in the U.S. Statistics Canada said earlier this month that the number of Canadians who took trips in the second quarter of the year increased, but trips to the U.S. declined by more than 21 per cent year over year.

Porter notes it also offers several flights to popular destinations in the U.S., including Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa, Florida. Flights to Miami, Florida and to Phoenix, Arizona are coming online in 2026.

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Kimberley Johnson