Passenger traffic at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks recovered slightly in 2010 thanks to a larger array of destinations, but the counts are still far below the levels before the airport’s four-year skid.
In 2010, 5.4 million passenger departed and arrived from Bradley, an increase over the 5.3 million passenger in 2009, keeping the Connecticut airport as the second busiest in New England after Boston Logan International.
“This remarkable 2010 turnaround, which actually occurred during the last seven months of the year, is an affirmation of the State of Connecticut’s recently completed $200 million airport terminal improvement project,” Connecticut Transportation Commissioner Jeffrey Parker said in a statement. “This investment in Connecticut’s future economic growth will continue to pay dividends for years to come.”
The Connecticut Department of Transportation hailed new non-stop flight destinations as helping to create the passenger turnaround at Bradley. New destinations included New York City, Washington, D.C., Raleigh-Durham and Fort Lauderdale. JetBlue Airlines also started service out of Bradley in 2010, flying non-stop to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.
The year-over-year improvement halted Bradley’s skid of lost passengers that started in 2006. In 2005, the airport reached an all-time high with more than 7 million passengers but steadily lost that number until 2009, which was the airport’s worst year for passenger since 1994. Last year was the second worst year since 1994.
