Bradley International Airport

The airport originated in 1940, as Connecticut acquired 1,700 acres of land in Windsor Locks. However, WWII necessitated the land be turned over to the U.S. Army in 1941 as hostilities were on the horizon. As such, the airfield was named after Lt. Eugene M. Bradley of the 64th Pursuit Squadron, who perished when his P-40 crashed during a dogfight training drill on August 21st, 1941. With the war's culmination, the airfield commenced civil use at Bradley International Airport in 1947. It was to be Hartford's primary airport, replacing the smaller and older Hartford-Brainard Airport. Initial service was by Eastern Air Lines, while international cargo shipments began that same year. The following year, the airport was officially deeded to the state of Connecticut by the federal government. Within a few years, the airport exceeded the 100,000 passenger mark, whereas, in 1952, Murphy Terminal (later called Terminal B) was opened. In 1957, the airport was serviced by American Airlines, Eastern Air Lines, United Airlines, and Northeast Airlines. By 1960, the airport was servicing 500,000 passengers annually. In 1971, the Murphy Terminal was expanded with a dedicated International Arrivals wing, while in 1977 instrument landing systems were installed on the two runways. In 1986, the new Terminal A and the Bradley Sheraton Hotel, as well as the Roncari corgi terminal, were all completed. The dawn of the new millennium brought about the Terminal Improvement Project in 2001, which expanded Terminal A with a new concourse and constructed a new International Arrivals Building and centralized passenger screening. As such, the new Eat Concourse opened in September 2002. In December of that year, the International Arrivals Building opened, supported by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and housing the Federal Inspection Station, at an approximate cost of $7.7 million. Bradley's first direct flight from Europe commenced in July 2007 to Amsterdam through Northwest Airlines, although it was discontinued in October 2008, with the airline citing the rising costs of jet fuel. Transatlantic service was renewed on September 28th, 2016, with Aer Lingus flying daily to Dublin (the flight was suspended due to COVID-19 and is expected to resume in March 2023). Since 2017, Bradley has seen the arrival of low-cost carriers Spirit Airlines, Sun Country Airlines, and Breeze airways, who announced plans to establish a base at the airport on February 17th, 2022.

The airport is located about halfway between Hartford, Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts. 

• When Terminal B closed in 2010, it was the oldest active passenger terminal in the U.S. 
• An experimental People Mover was constructed in the mid-70s to move people from the terminal to the parking lot, which was 7/10th of a mile away. It cost $4.5 million to build and would have cost $250,000 annually to operate. It was completed in 1975 but was never used, as the operational costs were too high and the parking lot it connected to was not in use. The system was dismantled in 1984 to benefit the new terminal, and the retired vehicles are on display at the Connecticut Trolley Museum in East Windsor, Connecticut. * Bradley is home to the New England Air Museum. 
• Bradley is a dual-use military facility with the U.S. Air Force and is home to the 103d Airlift Wing of the Connecticut Air National Guard.