Doug Newson says passenger traffic is up at the Charlottetown airportDoug Newson says passenger traffic is up at the Charlottetown airport (CBC)

Passenger traffic has increased at the Charlottetown Airport this year compared to 2011, say airport officials.

Second quarter results were released Tuesday and show an increase of 10,000 passengers in the first six months of 2012.

That means passenger traffic is up 8.7 per cent.

"I think the biggest factor is we've seen an increase in the number of seats especially with Air Canada this year. So they have added some larger airplanes compared to previous years and we are really feeling the impact of that with increased traffic numbers here to date," said Airport Authority CEO Doug Newson.

With 13 departures a day, Newson said he expects the upward trend to continue throughout the summer months.

Newson also said the bulk of the work on the departures area expansion is now complete.