More Passengers Flying Out of Bradley International Airport

Bradley International Airport has seen six straight months of growth in passengers boarding planes for the first time in four years, officials said Thursday.

The airport saw a 2.79 increase in June over the same month in 2009, a 2.35 percent increase in July, and August saw a 7.56 percent increase.  September also shows a 6.9 percent increase over 2009, October a 7.48 percent increase, and a 12.73 percent increase, or about 30,000 more enplanements, for November.

"We're hoping those numbers will continue," Eric Waldron, airport administrator, told the airport board of directors Thursday.

Luis Perez, director of marketing, said the airport should see an overall 1 percent increase for the year. That number takes into account double-digit decreases in the beginning of 2010, Perez said.

Officials attribute the increase in passengers to the expansion of airlines with Frontier, which began service in September, and JetBlue, which began service in November.

Perez said the airport currently has 60 more flights per week than last year. With more options, more people are seeking to fly out of Bradley, he added.

"I think the public is very encouraged," Perez said.

Mark Daley, the airport's finance director, said with the increase in passengers the airport is seeing increases in revenues.

"Every measure is up," Daley said. "I'm very optimistic."

Waldron said because Bradley's numbers slid more precipitously than other airports, its upturn should be more than others.

An audit shows the airport has seen a 35 percent decrease in enplanements since 2006.

has seen similar increases in deplanements, or passengers getting off planes, for the past five months starting 1.64 percent more in July and 12.04 percent more in November.