Bradley International Airport Sees 12 Months of Passenger Growth

For the 12th consecutive month, has seen year-over-year passenger increases, state officials announced Tuesday.

Since July 2010, Bradley has seen an overall 9 percent rise, 5.2 million to 5.6 million, in total passengers, enplaned and deplaned, compared to the same months from July 2009 to June 2010, according to a press release.

“This very positive trend validates our efforts to promote Bradley as a convenient and attractive alternative to New York and Boston for hundreds of thousands of passengers every month,” said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, in a statement. “Bradley is an important component of our overall strategy to advance tourism, business travel, air-freight delivery and ultimately, Connecticut’s economy.”

Bradley officials attribute the passenger increases to the addition of various travel options for Bradley customers, including the debut of JetBlue Airlines non-stop to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando in November 2010; recently, the airline recently announced that it would be offering a non-stop Bradley to San Juan, Puerto Rico round-trip starting in January 2012.

Other new non-stop BDL destinations, airlines, and start dates include: 
Denver, – Southwest – March 14, 2010
LaGuardia – U.S. Airways – October 31, 2010
Washington Reagan – Delta – October 31, 2010
 Raleigh-Durham – Delta – November 1, 2010
 Fort Lauderdale – Southwest – November 7, 2010

“This 12-month run of passenger traffic growth, highlighted by double digit increases from November ’10 through March ’11, is an affirmation of the State of Connecticut’s continuing commitment to Bradley International Airport and its customers throughout the region,” Acting Transportation Commissioner James P. Redeker said.

Airport Administrator Eric N. Waldron, A.A.E., ACE added: “The entire BDL community takes great pride in these positive passenger increases; we believe that the best is yet to come as Bradley is poised to aggressively pursue additional travel options for our customers from one of New England’s most convenient gateways.”

Sen. John A. Kissel, R-Enfield, who represents four towns that border the airport said "We continue to take positive steps to maximize Bradley's full potential, and I really feel the sky's the limit. Our collective goal is to make Bradley a bigger player in the region, and the investments being made there are going to bring tremendous results."

Bradley International Airport is the second largest in New England and serves an extensive geographic area with a customer base covering the Northeast including western Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey.    

Updated at 4 p.m.