Bradley was originally branded as the "Gateway toNew England" and is home to theNew England Air Museum. In 2016, Bradley International launched its new brand, "Love the Journey".[5] In 2019, Bradley was the 55th-busiest commercial airport in the United States, by passengers enplaned.[6]
Bradley has its origins in the 1940 acquisition of 1,700 acres (690 ha) of land in Windsor Locks by thestate ofConnecticut. In 1941, this land was turned over to theU.S. Army, as the country began its preparations for the impending war.[9]
The airfield began civil use in 1947 as Bradley International Airport. Its first commercial flight wasEastern Air Lines Flight 624. International cargo operations at the airport also began that year.American Airlines andUnited Airlines switched their service from theHartford-Brainard Airport to Bradley by 1948 whileNortheast Airlines began new service. American had also served Springfield through theWestfield-Barnes Regional Airport but discontinued service there by 1950.Mohawk Airlines began serving the Westfield-Barnes Airport in 1953 and moved to Bradley in 1959. Bradley then became the primary airport for the Hartford/Springfield area. The eventual build-out ofInterstate 91 provided fast access from the airport to the downtowns of both cities.TWA began new service to the Hartford/Springfield area through the Bradley International Airport in 1957 andAllegheny Airlines arrived by 1961.[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 of any major airport in the U.S. when it closed in 2010.[11]
The April 1957OAG 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 1971, the Murphy Terminal was expanded with an International Arrivals wing. This was followed by the installation ofinstrument landing systems on two runways in 1977.
In 1974, construction began onan experimental People Mover to move people between the terminal and a parking lot 0.7 miles (1.1 km) away. It was completed in December 1975. The People Mover consisted of a 7' wide roadway and two 30' long cars.[12][13] It cost US$4.5 million to construct and was anticipated to cost $250,000 annually to operate. Due to the high operating cost and the fact that the parking lot it was connected to was not being used, the system was never put in service and was dismantled in 1984 to make room for a new terminal building.[14][15] The retired vehicles from the system are now on display at theConnecticut Trolley Museum inEast Windsor, Connecticut.[16]
Food court & 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 byHNTB, 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.[18] Two government agencies support the facility;U.S. Customs and Border Protection and theU.S. Department of Agriculture. The FIS Terminal can process more than 300 passengers per hour from aircraft as large as aBoeing 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 byAvelo Airlines, for their service toCancún, Mexico,Montego Bay, andPunta Cana, Dominican Republic andAer Lingus for their year round service toDublin.[19] All international arrivals except for those from airports withcustoms preclearance are processed through the IAB. International departures are handled from the existing terminal complex.
In July 2007,Northwest Airlines launched a route toAmsterdam, Hartford's first direct flight to Europe.[20] Three months later, theAirbus A380 visited Bradley on its world tour, stopping in Hartford to showcase the aircraft to Connecticut workers forPratt & Whitney andHamilton Sundstrand, both divisions ofUnited Technologies, which helped build theGP7000 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.[21]
Northwest Airlines terminated its service to Amsterdam in October 2008 because of the increased cost of jet fuel.[22] In the same month,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 theConnecticut 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 ofbusiness 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.[23][24]
On October 21, 2015, Bradley announced renewed transatlantic service, partnering withAer Lingus to bring daily flights between Bradley andDublin.[25][26] 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 fourA321LR aircraft on the Bradley to Dublin route, replacing the Boeing 757-200 assigned to the route.[27]
On February 17, 2022,Breeze Airways announced they would be establishing an operating base at Bradley International Airport. The announcement included the airline would begin service to an additional eight nonstop destinations from Bradley and create more than 200 new jobs.[28] On March 8, 2022, they announced service to six new destinations,Akron/Canton,Jacksonville,Nashville,Richmond,Sarasota/Bradenton andSavannah all beginning in June 2022.[citation needed] On July 13, 2022, the $210 million Ground Transportation Center opened, hosting a consolidated rental car facility and 830 additional general-purpose parking spaces.[29]
On June 30, 2022, a $210 million ground transportation center was opened after construction through the COVID pandemic. The center moved rental car outlets onto the airport itself, eliminating the need for a shuttle service. The center also added 850 more covered parking spaces. With the opening of the facility, airport officials expressed the desire for a direct rail connection to the airport.[30]
On July 24, 2024,Avelo Airlines announced that they would open a hub at the airport featuring 18 destinations.[31] The hub was short lived, however, as by February 2025 all domestic operations had been terminated, with only three international routes remaining.[32]
On July 3, 2012, the Connecticut Department of Transportation released an Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Evaluation, 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 called for:[33][34]
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 also calls for a three-phase construction program:[33][34]
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. The original estimated completion date was 2018.
Construction of the final segment of Terminal B and its upper roadway would occur in a third phase. The original estimated completion date was 2028.
Actual completion dates depend upon funding and demand. As of May 2018[update], the project had not left the planning stage.[34]
The airport has one terminal known as Terminal A with two concourses: East Concourse (Gates 1–12) and West Concourse (Gates 18–30). The East Concourse has 12 gates and houses the following airlines:Aer Lingus,Delta,Frontier,JetBlue,Southwest,Spirit,Sun Country.The West Concourse has 13 gates and houses the following airlines:American,Breeze,United. A 2024 expansion project will see the construction of a new baggage screening facility, as well as the construction of two additional gates on the west side of the terminal – plus the relocation of the existing Gate 20 to the expanded area, for a total of three additional gates. After the renovation, BDL will have a total of 25 gates and one FIS international arrivals gate.[36]
The Customs Building that is used for arriving international flights has been dubbed Terminal B and consists of one passenger gate.[37]
The third floor of Terminal A has the administrative offices of the Connecticut Airport Authority.[38]
Former terminal B, also 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.[37]
In the year ending July 31, 2023, the airport had 77,685 aircraft operations, averaging 213 per day: 71% airline, 16%general aviation, 13%air taxi, and <1% military. At that time, 52 aircraft were based at this airport: 27 jet, 18 military, 5helicopter, and 2 multi-engine.[1]
CT Transit provides bus transportation to and from Bradley International Airport through two routes. Route 24 (Windsor-Bradley Int'l Airport-Windsor Locks) connects the airport with theWindsor Locks andWindsor train stations while Route 30x (Bradley Flyer) provides express service toDowntown Hartford.[88]
The departures level unloading area at Terminal A in 2011
Bradley has also been identified as one of the last remaining tracts of grassland in Connecticut suitable for a few endangered species of birds, including theupland sandpiper, thehorned lark, and thegrasshopper sparrow.[91]
In 2017, Bradley Airport was named 5th-best airport in the United States byCondé Nast Traveler's Reader's Choice Awards. Bradley scored well with readers in the categories of on-site parking, availability of charging stations and free Wi-Fi, decent restaurant options, and overall relaxed atmosphere.[92] The following year, it was named 3rd-best airport in the United States byCondé Nast Traveler's Reader's Choice Awards.[93]
On March 4, 1953, aSlick AirwaysCurtiss-Wright C-46 Commando N4717N on a cargo flight fromNew York-Idlewild Field crashed. Bradley was experiencing light rain and a lowceiling at the time of the incident. After being cleared to land on Runway 06, the pilot reported problems intercepting thelocalizer, and continued to circle down to get under the weather. The plane struck trees approximately 1.6 miles (2.6 km) southwest of the airport, killing the crew of two.[95]
On January 15, 1959, aUSAFDouglas DC-4 impacted a wooded hillside in fog without the use of a compass during approach, the pilot survived, the co-pilot and mechanic were killed.[96]
On July 16, 1971, aDouglas C-47B N74844 of New England Propeller Service crashed on approach. The aircraft was on a ferry flight toBeverly Municipal Airport,Massachusetts, when an engine lost power shortly after take-off due to water in the fuel. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was attempting to return to Bradley Airport. All three occupants survived.[97]
On June 4, 1984, aLearjet 23 operated by Air Continental crashed on approach to runway 33 due to asymmetric retraction of the spoilers, two crew and one passenger were killed.[98]
On May 3, 1991, aRyan International (wet-leased by Emery Worldwide)Boeing 727-100QC, N425EX, caught fire during take-off. The take-off was aborted and the three crew members escaped while the aircraft was destroyed by the fire. The fire was determined to have started in the number 3 engine. It was determined that the 9th stage HP compressor had ruptured.[99]
On November 12, 1995,American AirlinesFlight 1572 crashed while trying to land at Bradley. The plane, aMcDonnell DouglasMD-83, was substantially damaged when it impacted trees while on approach to runway 15 at Bradley International Airport. The airplane also impacted an instrument landing system antenna as it landed short of the runway on grassy, even terrain. The cause of the accident was determined to be the pilot's failure to reset the altimeter,[100] however, severe weather may have played a factor. One of the 78 passengers and five crew on board were injured.[101]
On January 21, 1998, aContinental ExpressATR-42, N15827, had an emergency during roll on landing. During the landing roll, a fire erupted in the right engine. The airplane was stopped on the runway, the engines were shut down and the occupants evacuated. The fire handles for both engines were pulled and both fire bottles on the right engine discharged. However, the fire in the right engine continued to burn. The airport fire services attended shortly afterward and extinguished the fire.[102]
OnOctober 2, 2019, a vintageBoeing B-17 Flying Fortress owned by theCollings Foundation carrying three crew and ten passengerscrashed intodeicing tanks and a shed while attempting an emergency landing and caught fire. Seven deaths and seven injuries were reported including one person injured on the ground.[103] Witnesses reported that an engine failed upon takeoff and then the aircraft circled back at low altitude.[104]
^Marks, Paul (May 28, 2006)."Archaeological Sleuths Hunt For Site of Bradley Airport Namesake's Fatal Crash".Hartford Courant.Archived from the original on June 20, 2013. RetrievedNovember 14, 2011.Bradley's fatal accident occurred during a simulated aerial dogfight with Frank Mears, commander of the 64th Pursuit Squadron. The plane Bradley was flying spun out of control as he went into a sharp turn at about 5,000 feet. Stunned witnesses saw the plane spiral slowly into a grove of trees. Soon a column of smoke arose. They theorize that the young pilot blacked out from the gravitational forces felt during such a sharp aerial turn.
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