Governor Announces Increases In Security At Bradley International Airport

WINDSOR LOCKS (AP) — Security at Bradley International Airport has been strengthened in response to attempted terrorist attacks in Great Britain, Governor M. Jodi Rell said July 1.

Among the steps passengers and visitors to Bradley will see are increased dog patrols and random vehicle checks.

Rell said other measures being taken, but are not being publicized for security reasons.

On Saturday, June 30, two men rammed a Jeep into the entrance of Glasgow’s main airport, shattering the glass doors and igniting a raging fire. On Friday, authorities thwarted coordinated bomb attacks in central London after an ambulance crew outside a nightclub spotted smoke coming from a Mercedes that turned out to be rigged with gasoline, gas canisters, and nails. A second Mercedes filled with explosives was found hours later in an impound lot, where it was towed for parking illegally.

“There is no credible information linking these attacks to any threat to Connecticut or the United States,” Rell said. “However, it is always prudent to take a few precautions — and it is worth noting that a new international service between Bradley and Europe begins today. The alert level is not being raised and there is no need for extraordinary concern. These are just sensible steps to enhance public safety.”

Northwest Airlines began daily nonstop service Sunday from Bradley to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, where the US carrier and its Dutch airline partner KLM have a hub with connections to other European cities, Africa and India.

The Bradley-to-Amsterdam route is the first regular trans-Atlantic service offered from Bradley. The airport’s only other international destinations are in Canada.