Bradley International Airport

Bradley has its origins in the 1940 acquisition of 1,700 acres (690 ha) of land in Windsor Locks by the state of Connecticut. In 1941, this land was turned over to the U.S. Army, as the country began its preparations for the impending war.[9]

The airfield was named after 24-year-old Lt. Eugene M. Bradley of Antlers, Oklahoma, assigned to the 64th Pursuit Squadron, who died when his P-40 crashed during a dogfight training drill on August 21, 1941.[10]

The airfield began civil use in 1947 as Bradley International Airport. Its first commercial flight was Eastern Air Lines Flight 624. International cargo operations at the airport also began that year. Bradley eventually replaced the older, smaller Hartford–Brainard Airport as Hartford's primary airport.[9]

In 1948, the federal government deeded the Airport to the State of Connecticut for public and commercial use.[9]

In 1950, Bradley International Airport exceeded the 100,000-passenger mark, handling 108,348 passengers.[9] In 1952, the Murphy Terminal opened. Later dubbed Terminal B, it was the oldest passenger terminal in the U.S. when it closed in 2010.[11]

The April 1957 OAG shows 39 weekday departures: 14 American, 14 Eastern, 9 United, and 2 Northeast. The first jets were United 720s to Cleveland in early 1961. Nonstops never reached west of Chicago or south of Washington until Eastern and Northeast began nonstops to Miami in 1967; nonstops to Los Angeles and Atlanta started in 1968.

In 1960, Bradley handled 500,238 passengers.[9]

In 1971, the Murphy Terminal was expanded with an International Arrivals wing. This was followed by the installation of instrument landing systems on two runways in 1977.

In 1976, an experimental monorail was completed from the terminal to a parking lot 7/10 of a mile away. The "people mover" cost US$4 million and was anticipated to cost $250,000 annually to operate. Due to the high operating cost, the monorail was never put in service and was dismantled in 1984 to make room for a new terminal building.[12][13] The retired vehicles from the system are now on display at the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor, Connecticut.[14]

In 1979, the "Windsor Locks" tornado ripped through the eastern portions of the airport. The New England Air Museum sustained some of the worst damage. It reopened in 1981.[15]

The new Terminal A and Bradley Sheraton Hotel were completed in 1986. The Roncari cargo terminal was also built.[9]

Food court and shopping hall connecting the East and West concourses of Terminal A

2001 saw the commencement of the Terminal Improvement Project to expand Terminal A with a new concourse, construct a new International Arrivals Building and centralize passenger screening. The airport expansion was part of a larger project to enhance the reputation of the Hartford metropolitan area as a destination for business and vacation travel. The new East Concourse, designed by HNTB, opened in September 2002.[9]

In December 2002 a new International Arrivals Building opened west of Terminal B,[9] housing the Federal Inspection Station with one jetway.[16] Two government agencies support the facility; U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The FIS Terminal can process more than 300 passengers per hour from aircraft as large as a Boeing 747. This facility cost approximately $7.7 million, which included the building and site work, funded through the Bradley Improvement Fund. Currently the International Arrivals Building is utilized by Delta Air Lines and Frontier Airlines (Apple Vacations) for their seasonal service to Cancun, Mexico and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.[17] All international arrivals except for those from airports with customs preclearance are processed through the IAB. International departures are handled from the existing terminal complex.

On October 2–3, 2007 the Airbus A380 visited Bradley on its world tour, stopping in Hartford to showcase the aircraft to Connecticut workers for Pratt & Whitney and Hamilton Sundstrand, both divisions of United Technologies, which helped build the GP7000 TurboFan engines, which is an option to power the aircraft. Bradley Airport is one of only 68 airports worldwide large enough to accommodate the A380. No carriers provide regular A380 service to Bradley, but the airport occasionally is a diversion airfield for JFK-bound A380s.[18]

On October 7, 2008 Embraer, an aerospace company based in Brazil, selected Bradley as its service center for the Northeastern United States. An $11 million project was begun with support from teams of the Connecticut Department of Transportation and Connecticut's Economic and Community Development. The center is intended to be a full maintenance and repair facility for its line of business jets and is expected to employ up to 60 aircraft technicians. The facility was temporarily closed ten months after opening due to economic conditions, reopening on February 28, 2011.[19][20]

On June 22, 2012 the Connecticut Airport Authority board approved the hiring of Kevin A. Dillon as the Executive Director for the Connecticut Airport Authority, including Bradley International Airport.[21]

On October 21, 2015 Bradley announced renewed transatlantic service, partnering with Aer Lingus to bring daily flights between Bradley and Dublin.[22][23] Service to Dublin began on September 28, 2016. On September 13, 2018 Governor Dannel P. Malloy announced that Aer Lingus service at Bradley International Airport will continue for at least four more years under a new agreement made with the state, committing the airline to continue its transatlantic service at the airport through September 2022. Aer Lingus committed to placing one of its first four A321neoLR aircraft on the Bradley to Dublin route, replacing the Boeing 757-200 assigned to the route.[24]

Norwegian Air Shuttle flew the airport's second transatlantic European flight. The first flight was on June 17, 2017 to Edinburgh in the UK. On January 15, 2018 the airline announced it would end service from Bradley to Scotland, with the last flight leaving March 25, 2018.[25]

The owners of TAP Portugal, a consortium headed by David Neeleman, have expressed interest in starting a direct route between Lisbon and Bradley International.[26]

On January 25, 2017 Spirit Airlines announced new daily nonstop service to Orlando and Fort Lauderdale along with 4 times weekly seasonal service to Myrtle Beach. The first flight to Orlando was on April 27,[27] and service to Fort Lauderdale started on June 16.[28] The same day,[28] the company also announced seasonal nonstop service to Fort Myers and Tampa, which began on November 9, 2017.[29][30]

On January 25, 2021, Sun Country Airlines announced new service to Bradley International Airport beginning in May with nonstop service twice weekly to MSP Airport and in September 2021, service to Orlando.

Terminal B, known as the Murphy Terminal, opened in 1952 and was closed to passenger use in 2010. It was slowly demolished starting in late 2015 and ending in early 2016. It housed the administrative offices of the CAA and TSA until its demolition.

The Customs Building that is used for arriving international flights has been dubbed Terminal B until a new Terminal B with 24 gates is rebuilt.

In addition to the regular cargo services described above, Bradley is occasionally visited by Antonov An-124 aircraft operated by Volga-Dnepr Airlines, and Antonov Airlines, transporting heavy cargo, such as Sikorsky helicopters or Pratt & Whitney engines, internationally.

• Connecticut Air National Guard
  • 103d Airlift Wing (103 AW) "Flying Yankees"
    • 118th Airlift Squadron (118 AS): operates the C-130 Hercules. The squadron was previously designated as the 118th Fighter Squadron and operated the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support aircraft from the mid 1970s to 2007. Between 2007 and 2013, the squadron operated the C-21.
• Military air transports that are commonly seen include aircraft such as the KC-135R Stratotanker from bases such as Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and Bangor Air National Guard Base in Bangor, Maine. C-17 Globemaster III aircraft from McGuire Air Force Base and Charleston Air Force Base are a less common but occasional sight.
• Connecticut Army National Guard
  • 169th Aviation Regiment, 104th Aviation Regiment, 142nd Aviation Regiment.
    • Army Aviation Support Facility and the Army Aviation Readiness Center provides aviation support to Army Operations, MedEvac and Air Assault missions throughout the world. Flying UH60 BlackHawks, CH47 Chinooks, C12 Fixed Wing.
• The Connecticut Wing Civil Air Patrol 103rd Composite Squadron (NER-CT-004) operates out of the airport.[42]

On July 3, 2012 the Connecticut Department of Transportation released an Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Evaluation,[63] detailing a proposal to replace the now-vacant Terminal B with updates and facilities intended to improve access and ease of use for Bradley travelers. The replacement proposal calls for:

• Demolition of the Murphy Terminal and existing International Arrivals Building;
• Construction of a new Terminal B, with two concourses containing a total of 19 gates, two of which could accommodate international widebody aircraft;
• Inclusion of a new Federal Inspection Services facility within the new Terminal;
• Construction of a new Central Utility Plant;
• Relocation of the Terminal B arrival roadway and departure viaduct;
• Realignment of Schoephoester Road; and
• Construction of a new 7-level parking garage and consolidated car rental facility, adding 2,600 public parking spaces and 2,250 rental car spaces.

The proposal calls for a three-phase construction program:

• Demolition of the existing Terminal B, realignment of surface roads and construction of the new garage/rental car facility would occur during the initial phase. The initial phase is estimated to cost between $630 million and $650 million.
• Construction of part of Terminal B and its upper roadway would occur in a second phase, with an estimated completion date of 2018.
• Construction of the final segment of Terminal B and its upper roadway would occur in a third phase, with an estimated completion date of 2028.

Actual completion dates could vary due to funding and demand, but as of May 2018 the project had not left the planning stage.[64]

In 2020 construction began on the ground transportation center, west of the existing garage, with current plans calling for it to host 830 new public parking spaces, a new consolidated rental car facility, and bus stops for regional bus services and a planned shuttle connecting the airport to the Windsor Locks rail station. The projected cost of the facility is $210 million, with construction projected to be complete in 2022.[65]

Amtrak and Hartford Line trains serve both the nearby Windsor Locks and Windsor stations.[66] As of 2018, weekday service includes eleven southbound trains and twelve northbound trains at Windsor Locks.[67]

Connecticut Transit route 34 provides local service connecting Bradley with Windsor and Hartford. Route 30 (the "Bradley Flyer") provides express service to downtown Hartford.[68]