Here's why more fighter jets have been seen over Thunder Bay

The sky above Thunder Bay, Ont., has been busier than normal this week with numerous fighter jets taking off and landing at the city's airport.

The city is often used as a stopover where aircraft refuel during their cross-country journey.

One type of aircraft caught the attention of people (some of whom called into CBC) because of its size and its flying formation, with one jet flying directly beside another.

It's the A-4 Skyhawk.

"So that's a military manoeuvre that we normally fly," said Sean Gustafson, vice-president of business development for Draken International, which operates a fleet of privately owned tactical aircraft. 

"We just fly side by side and that's how we normally transit with our aircraft."

The company is in the process of bidding for a contract with the Department of National Defence for CATS, or Contract Airborne Training Service.

This week's trip was to familiarize pilots and demonstrate what the aircraft can do.

"We play the bad guys once we take off," Gustafson said. "We go up against the F-18s and what they do is they save a lot of hours fighting our aircraft, versus putting more hours on their aircraft at a higher cost."

Gustafson said the trip across northwestern Ontario was a bit of a homecoming for him, as the planes travelled from the Ottawa and Peterborough areas towards Moose Jaw, Sask.

"I grew up in Kenora, Ontario, right down the road from you, so that was a really neat opportunity for us to fly, it was pretty high up there obviously, but to look down and see my old hometown."

Gustafson said to expect the planes in Thunder Bay skies again, as they head back east for air shows in Gatineau, Que., and Trenton, Ont.