The Sault Ste. Marie Airport has broken another record for passenger levels.
In 2016, a total of 211,614 passengers flew into and out of the airport on its various airlines, including Air Canada Express, Bearskin Airlines, Porter Airlines, and Sunwing Airlines.
The previous record was set in 2015 at 201,347.
The month of December was the eighth straight record month and in total 10 new monthly records were set in 2016.
Also of note, in 2016 a record for passengers in one month was set in August at 19,592, only to be broken in October at 20,040.
For the year 2016, the 211,614 passengers that used the Sault Ste. Marie Airport marked a 5.1 per cent increase from 2015.
Since the low passenger level of 121,991 experienced in 2010, passenger levels have increased by 89,623 per year which is a growth of 73.5 per cent over those six years.
“The record passenger levels is partially a result of the reduction in leakage to other airports and an increase in American passengers,” said Terry Bos, president and CEO of the airport development corporation, in a release.
“With competitive air fares from the main airline carriers and the lower value of the Canadian dollar seen in 2016, it has helped to attract passengers back to flying from Canada.”
