Aer Lingus Flights from Bradley to Dublin to Begin Next Year
WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — Aer Lingus announced that trans-Atlantic flights from Bradley International Airport to Dublin will begin in September 2016, a move aided by a state guarantee to cover possible losses in the first two years of service.
“As an Irish-American, I’m happy to say this day has come,” Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said Wednesday afternoon at a press conference, according to the Hartford Courant. “There were moments we weren’t sure this day would arrive.”
The state offered a $4.5 million guarantee against losses in each of the first two years, plus $5 million in other inducements. Financial inducements to Aer Lingus could reach $14 million: up to $9 million in loss protection from the Department of Economic and Community Development and $5 million from the state Airport Authority, including $3.8 million in marketing over three years and about $1.2 million in waivers of various fees over two years, according to the Connecticut Mirror.
