WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — Bradley International Airport is undergoing two significant construction projects that will improve main terminal’s flow and functionality and enable the growth of more airline routes.
The Connecticut Airport Authority announced $243 million construction, aiming to maximize the Windsor Locks airport’s existing use and position it for the future. Both projects are more than halfway complete and are visible to passengers and members of the community.
Kevin Dillon, A.A.E., executive director of the CAA, said that once complete, the projects will optimize the way arriving and departing passengers move through the airport.
“The ongoing construction is also key to the CAA’s long-term strategy to ensure that our terminal meets the demand of our current passenger levels and also positions us for future growth in passenger traffic and nonstop destinations,” Dillon said.
The CAA is tasked with developing, improving and operating Bradley International Airport and the state’s five general aviation airports. In a release on Wednesday, the CAA outlined the work that is being done in Windsor Locks.
According to the CAA, deplaned passengers at Bradley International Airport currently must go through a single exit in the airport’s main terminal next to the primary TSA security checkpoint to gain access to the baggage claim.
An ongoing project is creating two new corridors on both sides of the main terminal that will offer deplaning passengers in both of the airport’s concourses a quicker and more direct route to their airline’s baggage claim at the airport’s lower level.
The enhancements will provide a more direct walk to baggage claim, the parking lot shuttles, ground transportation and new meet and greet areas. The single exit that is currently used will eventually be closed off, giving more space to expand the TSA security checkpoint for queueing and screening.
The CAA said that now, passengers with checked bags get them tagged at their airline’s ticket counter and then carry them themselves to nearby explosive-detection machines. However, a new 80,000-square-foot inline baggage screening facility is under construction behind the Sheraton Hotel. It will be home to the airport’s explosive-detection machines.
A mile-long conveyer belt running behind the scenes will soon carry the estimated two million checked bags that the airport screens annually from airline ticket counters directly to the new screening facility. Passengers will no longer need to carry their checked bags to the explosive-detection machines after airline check-in.
The new facility will also add new gate space for flights, which will result in more ticket counter space in the terminal lobby for new and existing airlines due to the removal of the explosive-detection machines that can currently be found in that area.
As part of the $243 million projects, the CAA secured $99 million in funding from the Federal Aviation Administration Improvement Program, the Transportation Security Administration and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The remaining $144 million in construction costs is coming from passenger facility charges and the CAA’s airport revenue. The CAA said no taxpayer funds are being used to pay for either project.
Construction began in February 2023 and is expected to be completed in late 2025. At peak construction times, the CAA said 200 people are on-site working on the projects.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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