The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that Air Canada's profit more than doubled in 2017 as the country's biggest airline opened new routes and flew a record number of passengers amid a sustained industry boom. The Globe's Erik Atkins writes that the company added 30 routes globally last year, and its expanded international push helped it carry a record 48 million travellers while boosting passenger revenue by 10 per cent. Fourth quarter results released on Friday showed that in the final three months of 2017, profit was $8-million or two cents a share, compared with a net loss of $179-million, or 66 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. For the full year, profit was $2.04-billion, or $7.34 a share, compared with $876-million, or $3.10 a share, in 2016. On an adjusted basis, earnings were steady at $1.14-billion. Shares of Air Canada rose more than 1 per cent in Toronto on Friday. The strong performance follows several moves in recent years by the Montreal-based carrier to safeguard its business against the boom and bust cycles of an industry marked by high costs and exposure to economic downturns. Air Canada must now show it can keep profits flowing as industry competition heats up.