YOW
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW) Transfers
Private chauffeur transfers at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier, Ottawa.
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier is run by the Ottawa International Airport Authority and, unusually for an airport of its size, it is easy to describe in one sentence: everything happens on three levels of a single terminal. Departing passengers are dropped at Level 3, where the check-in counters are. Arriving passengers come down to Level 1, and that is where all licensed ground transportation waits.
The arrivals path differs depending on where you have flown from. A passenger arriving from a Canadian city leaves the Canada/International secure area near gate 17 and goes down to Level 1 to collect checked luggage. A passenger arriving from the United States or anywhere else international has to satisfy the Canada Border Services Agency and clear customs and immigration before collecting baggage, which is the part that decides how long a pickup actually waits.
Meet & Greet
Your chauffeur meets you at the arrivals curb with a name sign. Meeting inside the terminal is available on request, at an extra charge.
60 minutes of waiting
Complimentary on every airport pickup, measured from when your aircraft lands.
Flight number on file
Our dispatch team checks your flight's arrival time and adjusts your pickup.
Door-to-door
Direct to your destination, with no stops you did not ask for.
How pickup works at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier
Pickups here are meet and greet. Your chauffeur meets you at the Level 1 curb with a name sign and takes the bags. Meeting inside the terminal is available on request, at an extra charge. Because licensed transportation all works from the same level, there is no multi-storey car-park expedition at the end of it.
Give us your flight number at the pickup-details step and our dispatch team checks your flight's arrival time and adjusts your pickup. It is optional but it is genuinely useful at this airport, where an international arrival and a domestic one can be an hour apart in practice even when they land at the same minute.
Sixty minutes of complimentary waiting are included on every airport pickup, counted from when the aircraft lands rather than from the pickup time on the booking. If you are clearing CBSA, that hour is what you are drawing on.
The included waiting period and the per-minute rate after it are set out in clause 4 of our Terms.
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier in brief
- Operator
- Ottawa International Airport Authority.
- Arrivals
- Level 1, where all licensed ground transportation is located.
- Departures
- Level 3, where the check-in counters are.
- Domestic arrivals
- Exit the Canada/International secure area near gate 17, then down to Level 1 for checked baggage.
- International and US arrivals
- Clear Canada Border Services Agency requirements before collecting baggage.
- Distance
- About 12 km from downtown Ottawa, straight-line from the airport's official coordinates.
Questions about Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier
Where will my chauffeur be waiting at YOW?
At the Level 1 curb with a name sign, which is where the airport puts all licensed ground transportation. Inside the terminal on request, at an extra charge. You will not be sent to a separate pickup zone or a different building.
I am flying in from the United States - does that change anything?
It changes how long you take to appear, not how the pickup works. US and international arrivals clear Canada Border Services Agency requirements before they collect their bags, so the hour of complimentary waiting is worth having. Adding the flight number lets dispatch see the real landing time.
Can you take me from the airport to Parliament Hill or a government building?
Yes, and it is one of the more common trips here. It is an ordinary point-to-point booking; give the address at the drop-off step and the fare is fixed in Canadian dollars before you pay.
Is a YOW pickup bookable online?
Yes. The airport is in Ontario, so the trip qualifies for online booking, including trips across the river into Gatineau, because one end is still in Ontario.
Chauffeur service in Ottawa
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier serves Ottawa, Ontario. The city page covers everything we run there, not only the airport work.
Chauffeur service in Ottawa →Other airports we serve in Ottawa
- Ottawa/Rockcliffe Airport (YRO) — private and business aviation, about 6 km from downtown Ottawa in a straight line
- Ottawa/Carp Airport (YRP) — private and business aviation, about 30 km from downtown Ottawa in a straight line
- Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport (YND) — private and business aviation, about 15 km from downtown Ottawa in a straight line