BANGOR, Maine — Passenger counts are up at Maine’s two largest airports, a sign of better economic times, according to officials at both facilities.

Bangor International Airport officials reported this week that a total of 168,072 passengers utilized the facility in June, July and August. That’s up 4.8 percent from the same period last year.

The passenger counts break records set by the airport in the mid-1990s, according to Airport Director Anthony Caruso.

In August alone, nearly 62,000 passengers passed through the airport, up 10 percent from the prior year.

Caruso attributed the increase to improving economic conditions and local airlines expanding their services and adding equipment in Bangor.

“Airlines have recognized that Bangor is a strong market for them,” he said. “They’ve introduced some new equipment [and] added capacity in our market.”

Caruso also attributed the increased headcount to ticket prices that are more competitive with Portland than they once were.

An airfare survey this month of the top 25 travel destinations showed the average fare from Bangor was $305 compared to $241 in Portland, Caruso said.

Meanwhile, Portland International Jetport also reported a significant increase in passenger counts.

In June, July and August, a total of 564,272 passengers used the jetport, up 8.5 percent from the prior year.

Jetport Director Paul Bradbury attributed the increase there to improved economic conditions, leading to increased tourism in the state.

With 196,913 passengers in August, up 10.2 percent from the prior year, the jetport hit an all-time record for a single month.

“You have a bit more discretionary money available and people are willing to have a summer vacation this year,” he said.

Jonathan Rubin, an economist at the University of Maine, said the main drivers for the increase are business and leisure travel.

He said Bangor’s airport bucks the trend nationally for achieving passenger growth despite not having a low-cost national carrier, such as Southwest or Jet Blue. Nationally, most airline growth has occurred among low-cost carriers, he said.

While airline fuel prices are down nationally, those reductions are not translating into reduced ticket prices.

“The reason why they’re hitting record profit levels is because they’ve been able to have lower expenses while charging the same fares or slightly greater fares,” Bradbury said.

Follow Evan Belanger on Twitter at @evanbelanger.