OTTAWA, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Transborder traffic to the United States fell 7 percent year on year to 1.2 million screened passengers in March at Canada's eight largest airports, marking the 14th consecutive month of year-over-year decreases, Statistics Canada said Friday.

Beginning in early 2025, a shift in air travel patterns coincided with the political tensions between Canada and the United States, said the national statistical agency, adding that in March 2026, transborder passenger traffic to the United States was down 10.5 percent from the same month in 2024, before such tensions.

Transborder passenger traffic to the United States accounted for 24.9 percent of the total number of screened passengers in March 2026, down from 27.6 percent in March 2025 and 29.1 percent in March 2024, said the agency.

In contrast, the number of passengers screened for domestic flights in March was 2.1 million, up 10.1 percent from the same month in 2025. International traffic outside the United States was 3.1 percent higher year over year, totaling 1.5 million screened passengers, said Statistics Canada. ■