A Long-Term Legacy

WHEN MARK LAROCHE MOVES ON FROM HIS JOB as president and CEO of the Ottawa International Airport Authority, he’ll leave with a sense of accomplishment, and excitement about the groundwork he’s laid for projects that are on the cusp of materializing. He can also be proud of weathering the stormy skies caused by the pandemic, but he prefers to look to the future.

Mark Laroche navigated the pandemic at YOW while also completing several important initiatives. Now he plans to “try” retirement.

One of Laroche’s proudest accomplishments that will pay dividends for years to come is the establishment of Ottawa as an airline hub thanks to a maintenance hangar he worked with Porter to establish. That project will see approximately 160 mechanics hired—high-paying jobs that don’t currently exist in Ottawa. Including the airline’s crew base and other positions, 400 new jobs are anticipated in Ottawa.

“Taxiway R had to be constructed in record time in order for the hangar to be built,” Laroche says, adding that the project was finished on budget. “We got all of that done just as we were starting to come out of the pandemic. The relationship with Porter was extremely important. Porter is the only airline that’s invested in a hub configuration at our airport. It provides hope for more direct destinations. It’ll be the gift that keeps on giving for decades.”

“I’m also really excited about the LRT [light-rail transit] coming,” says Laroche. “This is a generational thing. We had to seize the opportunity when the City was planning LRT2 without including a link to our terminal. It’s important for the airport, the community and it’s a great marketing feature for Ottawa Tourism for events and conventions to have the airport connected by rail to the downtown core. There’s immense opportunity there and I was not going to give up easily until the airport link was part of LRT2.”

Laroche says he is optimistic that OC Transpo will soon announce a date when passengers can take the LRT to the airport. The airport terminal station is complete, and trials between the station and the Trillium Line have been ongoing for several weeks.

Speaking of direct destinations, Laroche was applauded at the Ottawa Board of Trade’s City Building Summit 2024 because he secured Ottawa’s first post-pandemic flight to Europe—an Air France flight to Paris. The non-stop flight launched in 2023 and became daily in June 2024.

“It’s been a tremendous success,” Laroche says, adding that he’s hoping to secure another flight to Europe within the next 24 months. Porter Airlines meanwhile, has announced plans to fly daily to St. John’s, NL, which means it now offers 15 non-stop destinations from Ottawa with more coming. Between them, Air Canada and United Airlines offer 12 non-stop destinations from YOW. WestJet has four non-stop destinations. Flair Airlines and Canadian North also contribute to Laroche’s goal of making Ottawa a hub in Canada’s aviation network.

Laroche and his team have also been busy on the restaurant and retail front. Big Rig Kitchen and Brewery, local Italian sandwich shop La Bottega and Ottawa’s own Bridgehead Coffee were brought into the fold last summer. Soon, a Zak’s Diner will replace Darcy McGee’s at the south end of the terminal.

“We challenged the master concessionaire to include local flavours in their proposals,” Laroche said. “SSP Canada did just that by securing brands that remind passengers of a wonderful visit to the National Capital Region or a taste of home.”

The terminal-connected Alt Hotel has also broken ground. When it’s complete, the $55-million hotel will have 180 rooms, a full-service restaurant and meeting rooms.

When it comes to sustainability, the airport hopes to achieve netzero emissions for operations by 2040. Currently, it’s exploring the viability of a solar farm project on its 500 acres of land with an experienced third party and Hydro Ottawa.

“This land is mostly unsuitable for many other types of development because of noise from low-flying aircraft and height restrictions,” Laroche says, adding that it’s not serviced by water and sewer and it has minimal shading. The project is still in the early exploration stages, but first estimates suggest it could have a total capacity of 100 MW using the latest technology with about 200,000 solar panels—the equivalent needed to provide sustainable electricity to 13,000 households annually.

YOW is forecasting rapid growth thanks to more connecting passengers and continued local population growth, underscoring the need for airport expansion. Construction planning has already begun, and the community can look forward to more innovation and improvements in the facility to meet growing demand and evolving passenger needs.

Finally, Laroche lauds his team. “Everyone is keen to jump into all these projects, which is great,” he says. “They come to work with a lot of enthusiasm and that’s why I’ve had so much fun over the last 11 years and can say it’s been the best job ever.”