Canadian air passenger traffic to U.S. down for 9th consecutive month

For the ninth consecutive month, fewer passengers at Canadian airports are heading to the United States amid the trade war.

New data from Statistics Canada shows total Canadian air passenger traffic in October was up by 4.5 per cent to five million travellers from the same time last year, but the number of people on U.S.-bound trips is down 8.9 per cent to 1.2 million travellers.

The drop comes almost a year after U.S. President Donald Trump first started musing about making Canada the 51st state, a threat he has repeated throughout the trade war.

When asked if he was considering using military force to take over Canada in January, Trump did not rule out a plan for annexation.

“No, economic force,” he said. “Because Canada and the United States would really be something. You get rid