While it was a slow June for travel between Canada and the U.S., a bump in domestic and international travel helped the Ottawa International Airport surpass 400,000 monthly passengers in June for the first time since 2019.
In June 2024, the airport recorded 394,250 total passengers for the month. This year, YOW recorded 423,285 passengers, approximately 11,000 shy of June 2019, before the pandemic shut down air travel.
Both domestic and international travel contributed to that growth. The airport saw 352,161 domestic passengers, compared to 330,966 in June 2024, and 24,899 international passengers, compared to 16,244 the previous year.
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By contrast, transborder travel — travel between YOW and the U.S. — decreased, a trend seen across Canada for the month of June.
In its most recent report on international travel, Statistics Canada found that cities across the country saw a decline in travel to and from the U.S. by both land and air in June, compared to 2024. In June, 363,900 residents flew home from the U.S. to Canada, a 22.1 per cent drop compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, crossborder return trips by car fell 33.1 per cent.
There are also fewer U.S. residents crossing the border into Canada. Automobile travel declined 10.3 per cent in June compared to the previous year, which StatCan said marks the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
At the same time, StatCan said there has been an increase in return trips taken by Canadians from other international destinations. The report found that return flights from overseas countries rose 7.3 per cent in June 2025 compared to the same time last year.
While volume was down to start the summer, transborder travel in Ottawa has remained “relatively stable” in the first half of 2025, according to Krista Kealey, vice-president of communications and public affairs for the Ottawa International Airport Authority.
The airport recorded more transborder travellers in the first six months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, increasing from 360,645 between January and June of last year to 406,786 in 2025.
Given U.S.-Canada tensions, it’s a trend that sets Ottawa apart from other destinations across the country.
“It’s difficult to pinpoint why we aren’t seeing the same declines reported at other Canadian airports,” Kealey wrote in an email to OBJ.
Anecdotally, she said, “Discretionary leisure travel appears to have softened, as indicated by the pause in service to Las Vegas. Service to Florida – traditionally a strong market for the Ottawa-Gatineau region – has been scaled back, though it continues to perform well, possibly due to property owners continuing to travel.”
Meanwhile, she said the Air Canada route to Washington, D.C. continues to perform well. “The sustained strength of the Washington routes may reflect ongoing trade and tariff-related activity.”
With the summer tourism season drawing to a close, some airlines are rolling out plans to reduce services, including to U.S. destinations, in preparation for the slower winter season.
But international travel could continue to benefit from Porter increasing capacity to sun destinations such as Mexico, Costa Rica and The Bahamas in the off-season.
In 2024, the Ottawa airport recorded 741,449 travellers to and from the U.S. Regardless of whether that number will be surpassed this year, Ottawa Tourism said the continued growth of transborder travel so far this year has been encouraging.
“While we can’t speculate on outbound travel trends, it is a good thing to see Ottawa continues to attract U.S. visitors who choose to spend their travel dollars in Canada,” Jérôme Miousse, director of public affairs, wrote in an email to OBJ.
“Tourism has always been about human connection. Travel to new or well-loved places builds bridges, makes memories and supports local economies like ours. These moments happen beyond political or economic tensions and reflect the enduring appeal of Ottawa as a welcoming and culturally-rich destination.”
