Thunder Bay, Ont., airport breaks passenger record
Passenger volumes highest ever; spurred on by international students, baseball fans
International students and baseball fans helped push the Thunder Bay airport's passenger volumes to a record-breaking level in August.
In a media release, the Thunder Bay International Airport stated that 81,003 passengers flew through the Thunder Bay facility in August 2017.
It marked the first time monthly passenger volumes exceeded 80,000 at the airport, and also topped August 2016's total by four per cent.
"Although August is always a very busy month at the airport with summer vacationing coming to an end, these numbers are exceptional because of the international traffic," Ed Schmidtke, the airport's president and CEO, told CBC News.
Baseball fans a factor
"We've been seeing news reports about record numbers of international students arriving to attend Confederation College and Lakehead University," he said. "They significantly contributed to our volumes, as well."
Another factor, Schmidtke said, were people coming to the city to watch the Under-18 Baseball World Cup, which began Sept. 1.
Schmidtke noted that many of the international students in Thunder Bay are planning on flying back home over the Christmas season. Therefore, he said, December should be a busy month, as well.
December expected to be busy
"We're already aware of large volumes of international students that have booked transport home in December," Schmidtke said. "We expect with the record numbers that there'll be exceptional demand for air travel in December."
His advice for northwestern Ontario residents planning to travel over the holidays is simple: book early.