Taking off! Busy summer helps Ontario airport passenger numbers soar

The Thunder Bay International Airport keeps setting records, as more than 220,000 passengers flew in and out of the northwestern Ontario city duringthesummer of 2016.

In a press release Monday, CEO Ed Schmidtke stated that the airport saw a fourper cent increase in passenger traffic, likely because of a sharp increase in use by U.S. residents.

The increased traffic also aided passengers seeking more deals in the skies, he said.

"The additional capacity resulted in lower air fares for the summer," Schmidtke said, "these pricereductions stimulatedflying by residents on both sides of the border."

Schmidtke also said that the numbers from this summer bode well for the future.

"With additional fall capacity provided by Air Canada, Westjet, Porter, Bearskin and Wasaya Airways, we are optimistic that this growth trend will continue."