Travel
Air Canada Elevates Ottawa to London Heathrow Travel with New Luxury Routes in 2025 – Travel And Tour World
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Air Canada redefines Ottawa’s international travel, offering luxurious Dreamliner cabins, gourmet cuisine, top-notch entertainment, and exclusive traveler perks.
Air Canada has unveiled an expansion of its flight schedule to Canada’s capital region, introducing non-stop international service from Ottawa to London Heathrow. Beginning March 31, 2025, flights will operate four times weekly using Air Canada’s Dreamliner fleet, which offers a selection of three cabin classes. Tickets are now available for purchase through aircanada.com, the Air Canada app, travel agents, and Air Canada’s contact centres.
“We are very pleased to solidify Air Canada’s leadership serving our country’s capital with the resumption of trans-Atlantic services beginning next spring. In addition to London being a top global destination, Heathrow is one of the world’s primary global gateways as well as home to Air Canada’s largest international operations. Conveniently located together with our Star Alliance partner airlines in The Queen’s Terminal, Air Canada offers customers easy connections to a vast array of more than 30 destinations across Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa with our airline partners. With continued demand for visiting friends, relatives, leisure and tourism, as well as supporting business and corporate travel, this route gives customers from both the National Capital Region and abroad direct, convenient international travel options to and from Ottawa,” said Mark Galardo, Executive Vice President – Revenue and Network Planning at Air Canada.
“We are looking forward to the future delivery of Air Canada’s new Airbus A321XLR fleet. The economics, optimum cabin size and range of the XLR which is expected to begin arriving in late 2025, will enable us to consider operating this important international route with greater frequencies and potentially with year-round service,” concluded Mr. Galardo.
Air Canada’s announcement of the resumption of its Ottawa-London Heathrow flights comes on the heels of its recent expansion of services from Ottawa to various Canadian cities and popular winter leisure destinations. With plans to operate up to 229 weekly flights to and from Ottawa next year, covering regional, domestic, international, and transborder routes, Air Canada has chosen Ottawa as a pilot location to test and refine new customer service initiatives aimed at enhancing the travel experience.
Ottawa-London Heathrow schedule:
Flight # | From | To | Days of Operation | Route Operates |
---|---|---|---|---|
AC888 | Ottawa (YOW) | London (LHR) | Monday, Thursday: departs 18:40, arrives 06:30 (+1 day) Wednesday, Saturday: departs 20:55, arrives 08:35 (+1 day) |
Mar. 31, 2025 – Oct. 25, 2025 |
AC889 | London (LHR) | Ottawa (YOW) | Monday, Thursday: departs 14:05, arrives 16:35 Wednesday, Saturday: departs 12:40, arrives 15:20 |
Mar. 31, 2025 – Oct. 25, 2025 |
Air Canada’s International Services
Air Canada’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners offer three cabin options: Air Canada Signature Class, with lie-flat individual pods; Premium Economy, featuring larger seats, extra legroom, and premium services; and Economy, providing complimentary chef-inspired meals, wines, and beverages. Each cabin is equipped with award-winning inflight entertainment systems, offering more than 1,400 hours of movies, over 1,900 hours of TV shows, 600+ hours of music and podcasts, and exclusive content from Apple TV+, Audible, Disney+, and Hayu. Wi-Fi connectivity is available for purchase, and Aeroplan members enjoy free texting on Wi-Fi-equipped aircraft.
Air Canada boasts 27 Maple Leaf Lounges across North America and around the world, available to eligible customers.
Onboard international flights, Air Canada highlights the culinary expertise of top Canadian chefs, including celebrity chef Jérôme Ferrer from Montreal and award-winning Vancouver chefs David Hawksworth and Vikram Vij. This culinary experience is complemented by a selection of fine wines curated by leading Canadian sommelier Véronique Rivest.
Customers can earn and redeem points with Aeroplan, Canada’s premier loyalty program, while traveling with Air Canada. Eligible customers also benefit from priority check-in, access to Maple Leaf Lounges, priority boarding, and other exclusive perks.
Ottawa stakeholder quotes:
“Ottawa residents and business owners have been hoping and calling for a return of direct non-stop service to London. The restored flight will boost our local economy, increase tourism, and connect two world capitals. It will make it easier for residents to travel abroad, tourists to visit Ottawa, and businesses to launch and expand in our city. Thank you to Air Canada, the Ottawa International Airport Authority, and Ottawa Tourism for their hard work. And special thanks to all the residents who raised their voices and helped make this possible. This is a big win for Ottawa,” stated Mark Sutcliffe, Mayor of Ottawa.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that YOW is once again connected, non-stop, to London-Heathrow Airport. As a key destination for government officials, business leaders, and leisure travellers worldwide, having Canada’s Capital Region back in the London mix elevates Ottawa-Gatineau on the global stage,” said Mark Laroche, President and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority. “Sincere thanks to the Mayor’s office, our tourism partners, local businesses, and everyone who added their voice to the effort to reinstate this valued route.”
“We are truly excited for Air Canada to launch this flight between Ottawa and London. This will make it even easier for visitors from the UK – Ottawa’s top overseas market – and other key destinations to travel to Canada’s capital to visit friends and family, to attend a conference or sporting event, and to experience our celebrated cultural gems and easy access to that world renowned Canadian nature.” said Michael Crockatt, President and CEO of Ottawa Tourism. “Regardless of the reasons for travel, the tourism and hospitality businesses in Canada’s capital are ready to warmly welcome visitors. We are grateful to all our partners for making this possible.”