Small airports get — and get ready for — international service

In the past, the biggest and busiest U.S. airports had the market for international air service all to themselves.

Now, smaller airports, such as Bradley International, near Hartford, Conn.; T.F. Green Airport, near Providence; and Stewart International Airport in New York’s Hudson Valley have snagged some direct flights to Europe and a potentially profitable slice of the trans-Atlantic air service pie.

Getting — and keeping — international service has spurred improvements at these small airports as they invest cash incentives, add amenities and spruce up facilities.

Bradley bulks up  

When Aer Lingus began year-round service between Dublin and Bradley International Airport (BDL) in Windsor Locks, Conn., in September 2016, it had been eight years since the nation’s 54th-busiest airport could boast a direct international flight. (Northwest canceled non-stop flights between BDL and Amsterdam in 2008, when fuel prices spiked and the economy stumbled).

Bradley, which is about 110 miles from Boston’s Logan Airport and about 130 miles from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, will get its second international route June 17, when the fast-growing Norwegian Air, a European discount carrier, begins direct service to Edinburgh, Scotland.

Norwegian Air: $65 one-way fares from Northeast to Europe now on sale

To help convince Aer Lingus, then Norwegian, to take a chance on adding service at Bradley, airport and local officials offered financial incentives, an increasingly common tool among smaller airports competing for service, and promised to beef up facilities inside the terminal.

The airport’s gates and ticket counters were already sized right and had common-use equipment at the ticket counters, said Kevin Dillon, Bradley Airport’s executive director, but to accommodate international customers, the airport added a branch of the pay-per-use Escape Lounge and a new restaurant — Phillips Seafood — which made sure to have Irish beers on the menu. Two Roads Brewing is about to open a tap room featuring Connecticut-made craft beers as well.

Bradley also added a duty-free shop for international travelers and reported that in addition to whiskey and perfume, international passengers buy lots of college-branded clothing, chocolate and roll-your-own tobacco.

Dillon said the airport promotes the region’s business and tourism opportunities in Europe and educates potential visitors about how the airport’s location near Hartford allows access to Boston, other parts of New England and New York.

Prepping in Providence

During June and July, Norwegian Air will kick off the first year-round European routes from T.F. Green (PVD) in Warwick, R.I., the country’s 64th-busiest airport in 2015.

PVD’s international service includes TACV, which flies year-round to Cabo Verde, and Azores Airline, which flies seasonally from PVD to Ponta Delgada, Azores.

Service from PVD to Edinburgh, Scotland, will begin June 16; to Cork, Ireland, on July 1; to Belfast and Dublin on July 2; and to Shannon, Ireland, on July 3.

To secure the five new routes, PVD matched “a voluminous amount of route analysis,” airport spokeswoman Patti Goldstein said, “together with robust and outstanding community support,” which included “the same marketing funds that we offer to other airlines.”

A statement announcing the Norwegian service noted that the Federal Aviation Administration invested about $110 million in upgrading T.F. Green and expanding the airport’s runways to better accommodate international flights. Goldstein said the airport is expanding its international arrival facility, aiming to have enhancements in place for the kickoff of the Norwegian flights.

Sprucing up Stewart International Airport

Stewart International Airport, about 70 miles north of New York City in New Windsor, will get its first scheduled international service with Norwegian Air’s daily flights to Edinburgh, starting June 15.

Flights from Stewart (SWF) to Dublin and Belfast will begin July 1, and flights to Shannon, Ireland, and Bergen, Norway, will kick off July 2. The frequency for each service will vary by season.

To get ready, Stewart International, ranked as the 206th-busiest U.S. airport in 2015, just finished razing a World War II-vintage hangar to make room for more overnight parking for aircraft.

Inside the terminal, concessions and amenities are being upgraded, said Edmond Harrison, general manager of SWF, which is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

“We’re getting currency exchange, duty-free shopping and a liquor license, which we don’t have now but will have when the first flight starts on June 15,” he said.

Harrison said the duty-free shelves will be stocked with products from area breweries, wineries and distilleries, and the gift shops will be filled with everything from West Point sweatshirts (the U.S. military academy is 15 miles from the airport) to typical New York City souvenirs.

Two airport hotels (a Homewood Suites and a Courtyard by Marriott) are refurbishing facilities in advance of the new international travelers, Harrison said, and Hudson Valley tourism groups are gearing up to let visitors know about opportunities to visit nearby attractions such as West Point, the Culinary Institute of America and the Woodbury Commons outlet shopping center, which draws more than 12 million visitors a year.

For those international visitors landing at Stewart International who want to head straight for the Big Apple, starting June 15, there will be scheduled Coach USA service, including Wi-Fi and in-seat power, to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City.

All these upgrades won’t be for the benefit of only international fliers.

The Norwegian flights will bring the critical mass of passengers Stewart airport concessionaires need to make service investments worthwhile.

“So now, whether you’re flying Norwegian, JetBlue, American, Allegiant or Delta Connection,” Harrison said, “you’ll be able to have a cocktail before your flight.”

Harriet Baskas is a Seattle-based airports and aviation writer and USA TODAY Travel's "At the Airport" columnist. Follow her at twitter.com/hbaskas.