The Thunder Bay International Airport recorded its busiest year yet in 2011.
About 719,500 passengers made their way through the terminal last year, up nearly 28,000 more than 2010’s 691,896 total.
The four per cent increase means an average of about 1,971 people arrived or departed from Ontario’s third busiest airport.
In a release issued on Tuesday, Thunder Bay International Airports Authority president and CEO Scott McFadden said the increase is likely due to stronger economic activity in Northwestern Ontario, combined with the availability of high-quality, low-cost air service.
It also helped that both Bearskin Airlines and Wasaya Airways added larger aircraft on core routes, while two major carriers, Air Canada and Porter Air, also added larger aircraft and more seats between Thunder Bay and Toronto, the airport’s busiest corridor.
Things are looking even better as 2012 gets under way, McFadden said.
'(It) starts with customers having the greatest choice yet for direct, non-stop flights to sun destinations,” McFadden said.
