Air Freight to Ottawa (YOW)
YOW is a genuinely smaller-volume gateway — no direct ASEAN/India route in our data, confirmed carrier-by-carrier, and roughly a tenth of Toronto's cargo volume. Domestic redistribution from Toronto, Vancouver, or Montreal is the real path in.
Get YOW Rates~29k tonnes
Annual cargo YOW (2024)
0
Confirmed direct ASEAN/India routes
134/week
Combined belly capacity, YYZ+YVR+YUL→YOW
Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport
IATA / ICAO
YOW / CYOW
Annual volume
~29,000 tonnes/year (2024), consistent with a stable ~29,000–31,000 tonne range since 2019
Operator
Ottawa International Airport Authority
Carriers on-site
Air Canada Cargo, Cargojet, Canadian North Cargo (Arctic resupply)
No direct international route — real domestic path instead
How cargo actually reaches YOW
route-data.json has zero confirmed ASEAN/India routes landing directly at YOW today. Cargo clears customs at Toronto, Vancouver, or Montreal on one of those gateways' confirmed international routings, then moves to Ottawa on Air Canada's domestic network — real, confirmed redistribution legs, not an invented workaround.
Source: Air Canada Cargo network schedule. Last verified 2026-07-16.
What lands at YOW
Derived from the commodities landing at YOW's real feeder gateways (YYZ, YVR, YUL) — Ottawa has no direct route of its own to measure this against yet.
Semiconductors, electronics, computers, components
HS 84, 85
View commodity guide →
Finished pharmaceuticals, APIs, vaccines, biologics
HS 29, 30
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Medical and surgical instruments, imaging equipment, prosthetics
HS 90
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Diamonds, precious stones, gold, jewellery
HS 71
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Precision machinery parts, semiconductor equipment
HS 84
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Aircraft parts, MRO components
HS 88
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Electronic sensors, ECUs, injection systems — NOT body panels or engines
HS 87
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Premium fresh/chilled fish, high-value crustaceans
HS 3
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Cut flowers, foliage, live plants
HS 6
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High-end and fast-fashion garments requiring rapid replenishment
HS 61, 62
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Premium fresh fruit and vegetables, out-of-season produce
HS 7, 8
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Primary batteries and lithium-ion accumulators/cells — the most commonly shipped DGR-classified cargo on this corridor
HS 85
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Raw and intermediate textile goods — yarns and woven/knit fabrics not yet cut and sewn into finished apparel
HS 52, 54
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Footwear — sports, waterproof, and leather lines with a real CPTPP saving
HS 64
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Toys, games, and sporting goods
HS 95
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Furniture and mattresses
HS 94
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Plastics and rubber goods — sheet, tubing, moulded articles, and rubber products
HS 39, 40
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Bulk organic industrial chemicals
HS 29
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General industrial machinery — pumps, compressors, fans, and engines/motors, distinct from the semiconductor-fab and industrial-robot machinery already covered under precision machinery
HS 84
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Electrical equipment and components — motors, transformers, domestic appliance parts, ignition equipment, lamps, and welding machines, distinct from the computing/telecom/semiconductor headings already covered under electronics
HS 85
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Optical elements and measuring/surveying instruments, distinct from the medical/diagnostic imaging equipment already covered under medical devices
HS 90
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Leather travel goods, handbags, and apparel accessories
HS 42
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Printed books, periodicals, and other printed matter
HS 49
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Coffee, tea, and spices
HS 9
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Settlement
How a shipment landing at YOW actually settles
Every AWB we issue — whichever carrier operates the flight into YOW — settles through our single Halifax IATA accreditation and its CASS enrollment. How IATA's Cargo Accounts Settlement System actually works between agents, carriers, and IATA — and how UAL's own accreditation runs through it.
Read how CASS settlement worksDocumentation & terms
Which Incoterm applies to cargo arriving at YOW?
FCA, CPT, and CIP govern air freight under Incoterms 2020 — FOB and CIF are sea-freight-only terms, and using them on an air shipment is a common, meaningful error. The named Incoterm on the commercial invoice decides who arranges freight, insurance, and import clearance at Ottawa — confirm it before booking, not after the AWB is issued.
See which Incoterms apply to air freightWhy ship into Ottawa through UAL
Neutral, not carrier-tied
We route cargo into YOW via whichever carrier is fastest or has capacity that week — not whichever pays us the best override.
One settlement, every gateway
Every AWB settles through our single Halifax IATA accreditation, regardless of which Canadian airport actually receives the cargo.
Direct AWB issuance
We issue the House AWB ourselves and hold the Master AWB relationship with the operating carrier directly — no forwarder-of-forwarder markup added on top of the carrier rate.
Frequently asked questions
Ottawa's real cargo volume is smaller than Winnipeg's or Edmonton's — roughly 29,000 tonnes a year against their 48,000–51,000 tonne range — so we're not padding this page to match their length. The core facts (zero direct routes, reached via YYZ/YVR/YUL domestic legs) are the same story with less to say around it.
YOW · Reached via YYZ/YVR/YUL domestic redistribution
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