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Bradley International Airport

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Bradley International Airport
Image:Airport 2.jpg
IATA: BDL - ICAO: KBDL
Summary

<tr><th colspan="2" align="left" valign="top">Airport type</th><td colspan="2" valign="top">Public</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" align="left" valign="top">Operator</th><td colspan="2" valign="top">Connecticut Department of Transportation</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" align="left" valign="top">Serves</th><td colspan="2" valign="top">Windsor Locks, Connecticut</td></tr>

Elevation AMSL 173 ft (52.7 m)
Coordinates 41°56′20″N, 72°40′59.6″W
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
6/24 9,510 2,899 Asphalt
15/33 6,847 2,087 Asphalt
1/19 5,145 1,568 Asphalt
BDL redirects here. For the beer distributor, see Brewers' Distributor Ltd.

Image:BDL Airport Diagram.png

Bradley International Airport (IATA: BDL, ICAO: KBDL) is a public airport located in the three towns of Windsor Locks, Suffield and East Granby in Hartford County, Connecticut. Located north of Hartford and just south of Springfield, Massachusetts, it is Connecticut's busiest commercial airport and the second-busiest airport in New England after Boston's Logan International Airport. A total of 7,381,372 passengers traveled through the Bradley International Airport in 2005, up 9.63 percent from 2004.

Contents

[edit] History

Bradley has its origins in the 1940 acquisition of 1700 acres (7 km²) 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.

Less than a year after the Army assumed control, the field at Windsor Locks had its first fatality. Among those assigned to duty in Windsor Locks was the young Lt. Eugene M. Bradley of Antler, OK. While participating in a training drill, Lt. Bradley's P-40 crashed on August 21, 1941. Following a funeral at Talarski Funeral Home in Hartford, Lt. Bradley's remains were interred in the national cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.

The people of Connecticut did not forget the sacrifice of Lt. Bradley. There was a groundswell of sentiment in favor of naming the airfield in Windsor Locks in honor of the courageous airman. For bravery that led to the ultimate sacrificed, the airfield was renamed Army Air Base, Bradley Field, CT on January 20, 1942.

Following the close of World War II, the airfield was returned to the State of Connecticut in 1946. The land was formally deeded to the State of Connecticut for public and commercial use in 1948.

As it returned to civilian use, the airfield in Windsor Locks became known as Bradley International Airport. With the arrival of Eastern Air Lines Flight 624 in 1947, civilian air travel at the airport commenced. International shipping operations at the airport began during the same year. It eventually came to replace the older, smaller Hartford-Brainard Airport as Hartford's primary airport.

In 1971, the International Arrivals building opened, followed by the installation of instrument landing systems on two of the runways in 1977.

In 1979, a tornado ripped through Windsor Locks, wreaking destruction along the eastern portions of the airport. The New England Air Museum sustained some of the worst damage. It reopened in 1982.

In 2001 construction commenced on a new parking garage. When it was completed, it initially could not be used; the intervening attacks of 9/11 had lead to a regulation that would have required it to be set back further from the airport. Bradley eventually received a waiver for it from the Department of Homeland Security.

2001 also saw the commencement of the Terminal Improvement Project- an ambitious project to add a new terminal and gates to the airport and centralize passenger screening. The new terminal built by The Tomasso Group opened in 2003. The terminal improvement was part of a larger project to enhance the reputation of the City of Hartford as a destination for business and vacation travel.

2005 saw a new direct flight from BDL to Los Angeles LAX, operated by Song Airlines which was owned by Delta Air Lines. The new flight was the first flight from BDL to the west coast since cutbacks after the 9/11 attacks. The largest aircraft flown to BDL by Delta will be a Boeing 737 as opposed to a Boeing 767 as seen in the past.

On October 11, 2006, Northwest Airlines announced new service between BDL and Amsterdam, beginning on July 1, 2007. This will bring non-stop European service to Connecticut for the first time ever.

Frontier Airlines, a low-cost airline based in Denver, is scheduled to begin a daily flight to Bradley from Denver, beginning March 2, 2007. It will be the airline's first service to New England since they ended service into Boston in 2002, and will be the only nonstop flight between the two airports. Fares will begin at $99 each way and will connect Bradley to destinations served by Frontier in the Western United States and Mexico.

[edit] Airlines and destinations

[edit] Terminal A

Image:Concourse.jpg

[edit] Terminal B

Image:Spring4.jpg

[edit] Cargo Operations


[edit] Military Operations

  • United States Air National Guard
    • 103rd "Flying Yankees"
      • Operate Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt Aircraft
      • Many other military transports are commonly seen including: KC-135 Stratotanker, C-17 Globemaster, and C-130 Hercules

[edit] International Arrivals Building

In December 2002, a new International Arrivals Building opened to the west of Terminal B. This new International Arrivals building houses the Federal Inspection Station and has one jetway for deboarding the aircraft. The IAB replaced the old FIS in Terminal B and will be enlarged as volume demands. Four government agencies provide crucial support at the facility, these agencies are: the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. Customs Service and U.S. Department of Agriculture. The FIS Terminal (International Arrivals Building) is a two-story, 28,000-square-foot facility adjacent to Terminal B and the recently constructed Remote Deicing Collection Facility. This entire Construction project included the FIS Terminal and associated landside and airside improvements; entrance roadway, sidewalks and concrete hardstand for arriving aircraft parking. The FIS Terminal (International Arrivals Building) can process more than 300 passengers per hour from aircraft as large as a Boeing 747. International departures will be handled from the existing terminal complex. This facility cost approximately $7.7 million, which included the building and site work. A unique, 9’ x 20’ American flag tile mosaic was donated by Robert LaRosa, president of LaRosa Building Group, which designed and constructed the facility according to very detailed specifications. The mosaic is visible upon entering the front of the building. This project was funded through the Bradley Improvement Fund.

All international arrivals except for Canadian airports with Customs preclearance are processed through the IAB.

[edit] External links

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