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BWI Reports Record Number Of Travelers

LINTHICUM, Md. (WJZ) --  Historic numbers at BWI Thurgood Marshall. This past fiscal year saw the largest numbers of passengers travel through the airport since it began keeping records.

Marcus Washington has a look at what's causing this upward trend.

Travel at Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport is a hot ticket these days.

"Multiple flights to choose from and good fares and multiple airlines, obviously... international, domestic. It was very impressive," said Manolo Soto-Fournier, Memphis, Tenn.

Recently released numbers show record travel from July 2014 to June of this year. More than 22 million people traveled through BWI Thurgood Marshall -- up 2.4 percent.

International travel in June of this year saw record numbers -- more than 116,000 travelers.

"We've seen steady growth in passenger traffic here at BWI, particularly when it comes to international traffic. We've seen steady growth with new service from Southwest Airlines as well as Condor," said Jonathan Dean, BWI spokesperson. "We have a new international in WOW that offers an innovative, low fare product to Iceland and a number of European destinations."

If you ask most passengers why they fly out of BWI Thurgood Marshall, they say it's simple -- flying out of Baltimore is cheaper.

"The timing is OK. I can get in here very early for a flight or I can get in here late, which is different from D.C.," said Michal Young, Fort Washington, Prince George's County. "Dulles is like another country."

BWI Thurgood Marhsall is even the option for some travelers who live closer to other area airports.

"Harrisburg Airport doesn't have Southwest. Number two, the flights are always cheaper out of Baltimore than they are in Harrisburg," said Jim Blauvelt. Camp Hill, Pa. "So I'd rather spend an hour and 15 minutes on the road and then not have to do a layover someplace and get a direct flight out of Baltimore."

With more additions expected for BWI Thurgood Marshall, airport officials expect the number of travelers coming through to rise.

June was also the second busiest travel month for all-time travel at BWI Thurgood Marshall, with more than 2.1 million passengers.

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