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February 11, 2020

Bradley passenger numbers, cargo biz grew in 2019

Photo | Contributed Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.
By Sean Teehan

Continuing a growth trajectory, Bradley International Airport saw its passenger numbers tick upward in 2019, with its cargo business growing by nearly 25%.

Connecticut’s sole international airport racked up about 6.8 million enplanements (boarding a plane) and deplanements (exiting a landed plane) last year, a 1.2% increase over 2018, according to data reported by the Connecticut Airport Authority (CAA), which oversees Bradley.

“This is now our seventh consecutive year of passenger growth,” said Kevin Dillon, executive director of the quasi-public CAA. “I think it’s really a reflection of our continuing efforts to develop additional routes here in the airport.” 

In 2019 those new routes included Frontier Airlines’ new flights from Bradley to Denver, Miami and Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina. Another source of growth is Aer Lingus’ route from Bradley to Dublin, Ireland, which debuted in 2016.

Last year Aer Lingus posted nearly 85,000 enplanements and deplanements. That’s 2.5% higher than the Irish airline reported in 2018. Dillon said the growing numbers demonstrate the wisdom in a two-year, $13 million incentive deal the state made with Aer Lingus to lure it to Bradley.

“Certainly the investment that the state made and the airport made in that route was well-placed,” Dillon said.

Cargo volume at Bradley spiked by 24.5% in 2019 to 367 pounds of materials shipped, Dillon said. He attributes much of that to Pinnacle Logistics, which ships packages for Amazon, and set up shop in a 394,000-square-foot space at Bradley in July 2018. It employs about 300 people at Bradley.

“A lot of [the cargo growth] is driven by the Amazon operation here at the airport,” Dillon said, noting that before Pinnacle arrived, Bradley typically saw low single-digit fluctuations in its cargo business from year to year.

Bradley, which receives rental and landing fees from freight carriers operating on its grounds, recorded $9.2 million in cargo-related revenue in 2018. By comparison, it earned only $2.9 million in fiscal 2017, which ran from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017.

Rising passenger numbers and cargo revenue come as CAA embarks on a $210 million ground transportation center project, which broke ground in July.

The under-construction facility will place all rental car companies at the airport, eliminating the need for shuttle service from the airport to the rental agencies’ off-site locations. It will include 830 parking spaces for rental cars.

In addition to centralizing rental car facilities, the CAA said, the new transportation center will add public parking spaces and incorporate public transit options. CAA officials expect the new facility will open in 2022.

When it comes to growth in 2020, Dillon says persuading airlines to add more routes from Bradley is key to CAA’s strategy. At the moment Dillon is focused on adding more West Coast routes, and establishing a Bradley-to-Seattle route is his No. 1 priority. He also sees opportunity in adding routes to mid-range cities like Phoenix, and increasing the frequency of routes to Los Angeles International Airport.

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