Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1525347
HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | AUGUST 19, 2024 17 Personal Banker Relationship Satisfaction Rate To see why, visit a branch or call us today! 96 % * *Rivel Research Group TM IonBank.com 203.729.4442 TOP LENDER 2023 Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender popular destinations out of Tweed, so it was a natural inclusion in the Bradley expansion. However, Avelo is attracted to more than just flights to the Sunshine State, Yealy said. The Bradley expansion will also allow Avelo to launch its first international flights, with service to Cancun, Mexico, and Montego Bay, Jamaica, beginning in November. "Hartford offers something that we, at this point in time, cannot do out of New Haven — and that's to offer international service," Yealy said. Florida market and beyond Daytona Beach International Airport, where Avelo and JetBlue will soon be offering nonstop service out of Bradley, serves more than 700,000 passengers a year. It's in a vacation hub that is home to the Daytona Inter- national Speedway and "the world's most famous beach," according to Joanne Magley, the airport's director of marketing and customer experience. "We have 47 miles of beach here in the Volusia County and the Daytona Beach area," Magley said. "We have pristine beaches with something for everybody." Magley said Avelo's Daytona Beach route from New Haven has been extremely popular, and Connecticut passengers are one of the top rider- ship segments for the airport. "Before Avelo, they were just coming in on either Delta or American through a connection flight, but now there's this other option for people who are already coming here to get a direct flight from Connecticut," Magley said. Connecticut-to-Florida flights are mainly for tourism purposes, Magley said, with somewhere between 60% to 70% for leisure travel, and the rest for family visits, business, or those who live in both locations. Dillon, from the CAA, said increased cruise line activity has also boosted Florida's attraction as a vacation destination. "Florida's overall cruise activity has picked up in recent years, particularly cruise ports in Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, which has added quite a bit of additional traffic down to Florida," Dillon said. Overall, Bradley has increased its nonstop destinations by almost 60% since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, according to the Connecticut Airport Authority. It now has direct flights to 47 cities. And looking beyond just the Florida market, Dillon said there is similar potential for Bradley to add nonstop service to airports in the south- western United States, including Arizona and Nevada. Those states share traits with Florida, including having residents who also have homes in Connecticut, he said. Seattle is another nonstop desti- nation Dillon said he'd like to see at Bradley. "This is a very, very strong and healthy market, it's just a matter of convincing the airlines to make the investment of putting an aircraft on a route out of Bradley," Dillon said. Joanne Magley Passengers departing from Bradley Airport to Florida Source: U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics/CT Airport Authority/HBJ analysis 1M 800K 600K 400K 200K NO. OF PASSENGERS 2014 21.3% 2015 21.68% 2016 21.79% 2017 23.17% 2018 25.82% 2019 26.88% 2020 33.27% 2021 30.33% 2022 24.75% 2023 24.98% % OF BRADLEY PASSENGERS WHO FLEW FROM WINDSOR LOCKS TO FLORIDA