Updates
November 2006 – A Page in History Has Been Turned
Approximately one third of the old terminal has just been demolished to make way for the foundation of Phase II of the Airport Expansion Program - a major milestone for the airport. Construction of the old terminal began in 1957. After three years of construction and a delay caused by an airplane having broken both the sound barrier and many windows during construction, the new terminal was inaugurated by Prime Minister Diefenbaker on June 30, 1960. The cost of construction was $5 million, with maximum capacity estimated at 900,000 passengers. You may recall that, in the 1950s, the Uplands Airport was the Canadian airport with the most airplane traffic; in 1959, the airport boasted 307,079 take-offs and landings. For comparison, the Ottawa Airport had a grand total of 113,600 take-offs and landings in 2005.
This terminal had been designed by architects Gilleland and Strutt of Ottawa. With the V-shaped terminal, departures and arrivals were separated in the two wings at ground level. You could access an external observation platform by a mezzanine. On the outside, passengers were welcomed by two stylized geese by Montreal sculptor Louis Archambault. These same two geese are now positioned near the flags on the access route to the new terminal. Between 1960 and 1964, the terminal’s mezzanine hosted the National Aviation Museum with a series of exhibits illustrating the rich history of Canadian aviation. The upper floors of the terminal were occupied by the Department of Transportation as well as the air navigation services and control tower.
In 1960, three airlines served the Ottawa Airport. Trans Canada Airlines offered 22 flights a day to Toronto and Montreal, and another route linked Val D’Or, Rouyn, Earlton and North Bay. Trans Air linked Ottawa to Churchill, Manitoba, for supplying the northern radar stations. Finally, Eastern Airlines operated two routes: one to Washington via Syracuse, New York and Wilkes Barre and another route to New York via Montreal.