Southwest Airlines operates daily nonstops from Bradley International Airport
It is difficult to discuss air travel in Connecticut without mentioning Hartford's Bradley International Airport. One of only two airports within the Constitution State that is open to commercial air services, the other being New Haven's Tweed Airport, Bradley has elevated itself onto the national stage of impressive air facilities by adding a new terminal and numerous new flight routes.
A stagnant economy and high oil prices have cut into some of these flights over the past year, including the elimination of Bradley's first nonstop service to Europe in years as Northwest pulled its service to Amsterdam. Another example of the constricting air travel market is Frontier Airlines, which recently terminated its nonstop service to Denver. Regardless, Bradley is still a premier airport not only in the northeast, but in the nation and is presently served by eight airlines flying to over twenty five cities. Here is a list of airlines that serve Bradley and the destinations they frequent:
United Airlines: United has dropped service over the years to several of its hubs but still operates nonstops to Washington DC's Dulles International Airport and Chicago's O'Hare Airport. Both these airports provide a plethora of connecting flights for both international and domestic travel. Service to Denver International Airport could be reintroduced in the near future. For flight information and reservations visit www.united.com
US Airways: US Air began expanding its service to Bradley just prior to September 11th and since then has had to scale back some of its expansion, particularly flights to Florida. Nevertheless, the airline serves several cities from Hartford, including Charlotte, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Rochester, NY, and Washington DC's National Airport. Some of these flights are operated by smaller carriers such as Colgan Air and Republic Air under the US Airways Express auspice. For flight information and reservations visit www.usairways.com/awa/default.html
Delta Airlines: Unlike US Air, Delta has continued to maintain most of its service to major cities in the Sunshine State despite recent airline cutbacks. Delta operates nonstop flights from Hartford to Atlanta, Cincinnati, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, West Palm Beach, and New York (JFK). If and when the economy turns around look for Delta to be one of the first airlines to add new destinations from Bradley, possibly to Salt Lake City and/or Los Angeles. For flight information and reservations visit www.delta.com
American Airlines: American has had an interesting history at Bradley and has had to cut back on the number of flights to each destination, not particularly the destination itself. American continues to serve Miami, San Juan, Chicago O'Hare, Raleigh/Durham, and Dallas/Fort Worth, but with far less flight options than in the past. For flight information and reservations visit www.aa.com/aa/homePage.do
Air Canada: Following Northwest's elimination of its overseas route to Amsterdam this remains Bradley's only international airline. Air Canada Jazz (its express version), flies daily nonstops to Montreal and Toronto. For flight information and reservations visit www.aircanada.com
Continental: Continental operates primarily Continental Express flights out of Hartford following the elimination of its flight route to Houston's Bush Intercontinental Airport. Cleveland and Newark, NJ, remain as the only Continental destinations served by Bradley at the present time. For flight information and reservations visit www.continental.com/web/en-US/default.aspx
Southwest: Southwest's expansion in lieu of the post 9/11 airline industry debacle was unprecedented and Bradley was no stranger to Southwest's success and viability. The airline has utilized Bradley and added numerous flights in the process. Southwest currently serves the second most cities of any airline at Bradley (Delta being the first) with six, including Nashville, Las Vegas, Baltimore, Chicago Midway, Orlando, and Tampa. For flight information and reservations visit www.southwest.com
Northwest: Northwest has teamed up with Delta in its recent merger to provide greater ease and feasibility for airline travelers with both destination travel and usage of airline miles etc. Even despite dropping its international service to Amsterdam, Northwest continues to operate daily nonstops to Detroit and Minneapolis/St. Paul. Look for likely expansion into the Memphis market once the economy turns around slightly. However, international flights back to Europe, including the revival of Northwest's route to Holland seems rather implausible at the moment. For flight information and reservations visit www.nwa.com
For more information please visit the Bradley International Airport website at www.bradleyairport.com/home
Happy Travels,
Anthony
Comments
Great article. I want to add that Southwest has recently upgraded their seating area to include leather lounge chairs as well as many places to plug in, so you can stay charged while checking out the internet through Bradly's free wireless connection.
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