The uptick in activity at Tweed Airport in New Haven appears to be making a dent into passenger traffic at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.
In his executive director’s report, CT Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon told the CAA board at its regular meeting that year to date through May 2023, Bradley passenger traffic is down 7.7% compared to pre-pandemic highs.
Dillon said in April 2023, passenger traffic at Bradley was down 6.4% compared to the pre-pandemic high in 2019. May 2023 was down 8.2%.
“We do believe we are starting to lag a little bit, in the recovery here, we do believe a lot of that is related to the competition down at Tweed, a lot of the passengers, particularly in our Florida markets," Dillon said.
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Discount airline Avelo began serving the southern Connecticut market out of Tweed beginning in the fall of 2021.
Dillon says because of the lag in its passenger traffic, it may take Bradley a little longer to return to its pre-pandemic levels.
Another big topic at Bradley and airports nationwide, has been the use of firefighting foam PFAS, known as a forever chemical…the subject of a series of NBC Connecticut Investigates reports.
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The CAA director of government affairs reported a U.S. Senate bill proposes authorizing $350 million as part of a disposal and replacement program. But for now, PFAS remains at Connecticut airports.
“We still are required to have that foam on airport but looking forward to a point when an alternative is designated, which could be as early as this year," said CAA Director of Government Affairs Alex Peterson.
The CAA also talked about improvements at some of Connecticut’s smaller airports.
For example, at Hartford Brainard, a tree removal program has been completed, which will allow planes to land at night again, and there are also continued updates going on at Waterbury Oxford Airport.
As for Sikorsky Airport in Stratford, the CAA board voted to put a pause on negotiations to attain an operating agreement with Sikorsky.
The board took a vote after Dillon explained to members that the state’s elimination of the aviation fuel tax has created some instability in terms of revenue for smaller airports like Sikorsky. Dillon added putting together an agreement without clearer financial picture there would not be prudent.
