Welcome Home Troops!
In the fall of 2008, the Authority worked with the Department of National Defence to determine the details of a program that would designate the Ottawa International Airport as an arrival point for repatriated wounded soldiers from Afghanistan. As a result, with the assistance of Air Canada Concierge, the soldiers are met at the gate by a military representative and escorted to the Authority’s VIP Lounge where the soldiers can be reunited with their loved ones in private. DND support personnel can also be available to provide assistance as required.
A “welcome home” banner was created by the Authority and the entire airport community was invited to put pen to paper as a show of support for the troops. Hundreds of signatures and messages of thanks and appreciation have been and will continue to be written on the banner which now graces the entry of the VIP Lounge and welcomes the soldiers home.