Standard & Poor’s has upgraded Bradley International Airport’s bond rating from “A-minus” to “A”, while the Fitch agency reaffirmed the “A” rating it previously assigned to Bradley, Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon informed the authority’s board Monday.
“They continue to cite the good performance at the airport,” Dillon said of the rating houses.
Along with those positive actions, passenger totals and concession sales and revenue at Bradley continue to rise, Dillon said.
In October 539,783 passengers departed and arrived at the airport, up 4.1 percent from the 518,592 in the same month last year. For the first 10 months of this year 5.03 million passengers went through Bradley, up 1.6 percent from 4.95 million in the same period in 2015.
“We continue to fare pretty well when you look at the regional market,” CAA Executive Director Kevin Dillon told board members. T.F. Green Airport outside Providence saw its total rise 3.3 percent in October, while Manchester-Boston Regional Airport in Londonderry, New Hampshire, dropped 4.4 percent. For the 10-month period, T.F. Green gained 2.6 percent, and Manchester lost 1.8 percent.
Meanwhile, Bradley officials continue to pursue new routes, Dillon said. “We continue to meet with airlines, hoping to get additional routes and additional seats, and, in fact, I’ll be meeting with a carrier that is not operating here next Monday.” He would not reveal which carrier.
CAA staff also continue to promote to the business community Aer Lingus’s daily international flights between Bradley and Dublin, Dillon said. The round trips began with great fanfare on Sept. 28.
“It’s really important to get the business community’s support to make sure it’s successful over the winter,” Dillon said, adding that he has recently met with western Massachusetts business officials and Aer Lingus representatives.
“We’re also meeting with Hartford-area businesses to develop a trade mission to the U.K. over the next year,” he said, as well as working with Aer Lingus tourism staff to publicize New England offerings.
The airport’s total restaurant gross receipts for the year’s first 10 were $5.34 million, up 7 percent from just below $5 million in the same period of 2015.
Total retail gross receipts in the 10 months were $3.86 million, up 3.5 percent from $3.73 million.
Adding up restaurant and retail gross receipts, the airport jumped ahead 6.5 percent, from $9.34 million to $9.94 million.
Fueling the gains in October. spending per passenger hit $9.75, up from $9.25.
Bradley also has been actively adding new concessions and features. Passengers can now tweet the airport to check flight schedules, delays, cancellations, and other related events.
Maryland-based Phillips Seafood recently opened in the terminal, and a Two Roads Brewery is under construction with an expected opening by the end of this month.
Construction has not yet started on the new transportation center, to be located at the site of the parking lot in front of the now-demolished Murphy terminal. But the project’s first phase, a feasibility study, has been completed, Dillon told the board. The second phase is now starting, which involves finalizing the budget and proceeding to final design. Construction is expected to commence in 2018.
