While most airports are averaging a one to two per cent increase in passenger numbers, the Kamloops airport is more than doubling that.

The number of people who flew in or out of town last month was 4.4 per cent higher than June of 2011. The count for the first six months of 2012 is five per cent higher than the same time last year.

Airport manager Fred Legace said summer is traditionally a slower time for air travel here; the winter snowbird/ski season tends to be the busier time.

However, this year, the numbers are looking pretty steady and there are definitely in-bound tourists coming into town by plane, he said.

Legace attributed the rise to marketing efforts by Tourism Kamloops.

He’s working to set up a meeting with the two main air carriers in town, Air Canada and WestJet; the former about more capacity, the latter about its regional air service.

Local aircraft flights were up 18 per cent last month compared with June 2011, in part due to the opening of a new flight school in town, Legace said.

The school is expected to boost the number of local flights in the coming months as more students sign up.