What airport is YOW?

Why the code is YOW

Y prefix plus OW, from the Ottawa radio identifier.

This is the explanation in general circulation and it is very likely right, but no primary document has been published that settles it. Treated as an account rather than a fact.

The airport

IATA code

YOW

ICAO code

CYOW

Airport

Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport

City

Ottawa, Canada

Code origin

The usual account, unverified

Ottawa is a capital-city airport with modest traffic, because Canada's political capital is not its commercial one. Most international connections route through Toronto or Montreal.

The other code, CYOW

Every airport has two codes. The three-letter IATA code, YOW, is the one on your boarding pass and your luggage tag, and it is assigned for commercial use. The four-letter ICAO code, CYOW, is the one pilots and controllers use, and it is assigned geographically: the first letter or two identify the region, so every airport in the same part of the world shares a prefix. That is why CYOW looks nothing like YOW.