A growing number of Canadians are making border runs to the US to avail of cheaper air travel fares compared to flying from their home country. They said that US carriers offer much lower ticket costs and more hassle-free airport security than the ones they have in Canada.

Burlington Airport’s Director for Aviation, Brian Searles, said that 40 per cent of the airport’s passengers are Canadians. The airport is just 30 miles from the border.

Meanwhile, Plattsburgh Airport revealed that 85 per cent of the travellers using the air terminal are Canadians. The Canadian Airports Council estimates that there are about 2.5 million Canadians that use US airports per year.

Tony Pollard, President of the Hotel Association of Canada, informed that most residents of eastern Canada go to Bangor, Maine; while people from Quebec drive to Burlington or Plattsburgh, New York. In addition, people residing in Windsor go to Detroit, while Toronto residents fly from either Syracuse or Buffalo, New York.

Pollard added that people do not mind travelling an extra hour just to save money. A survey conducted by his group revealed that 18 per cent of Canadians plan to cross the US border this year just to fly.

On the other hand, US airports are making efforts to cater every Canadian traveller. The local travel industry has noticed the influx of Canadians using US airports as their alternative travel route. Allegiant Air, a low-cost carrier, had recently started flight service from Plattsburgh and Grand Forks airports just to cater the travelling Canadians.