Two airlines — one returning, the other expanding — are giving Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks an added lift as Connecticut’s largest airport bounces back from lost passenger traffic in the pandemic and providing a optimistic sign for the return of business travel.

Air Canada returned daily, nonstop service to Toronto this week as previously announced after a two-year absence from Bradley, its flights temporarily suspended as the COVID-19 set in.

And low-fare Breeze Airways, which has served Bradley for a year, is launching six new, previously announced destinations this week: Nashville, TN, Akron/Canton, OH, Savannah, GA, Richmond, VA, Jacksonville, FL and Sarasota/Bradenton, FL. A seventh destination, Las Vegas, will launch after Labor Day.

Passenger traffic — both arriving and departing — at Bradley was 495,123 in March compared with 580,840 in March, 2019, prior to the pandemic, according to the Connecticut Airport Authority, which oversees operations at Bradley. The difference is about 15%.

In 2019, Bradley’s passenger count totaled about 7 million. If travel recovery continues on its current pace, Bradley could again reach that level by the end of 2023, airport officials have said.

Kevin A. Dillon, the CAA’s executive director, said Friday return of Air Canada and the Breeze expansion shows that both airlines see opportunity for growth at Bradley.

Dillon said the flights also signal confidence that business travel is strengthening because Air Canada’s Toronto route and Breeze flights to Akron/Canton and Richmond are popular with passengers flying for business.

“That really bodes well for the recovery of the business travel market which has been lagging behind the leisure travel market,” Dillon said.

Business travel plummeted in the thick of the pandemic, and the trajectory of its return has been uncertain with the adoption of Zoom meetings.

It is still uncertain when Aer Lingus will resume its nonstop flights from Bradley to Dublin, launched in 2016. Dillon has said the airline remains committed to serving Bradley, and he is hopeful the flights to Dublin, with connections to elsewhere in Europe, will return in the spring of 2023.

Canada’s largest airline stopped serving Bradley when the U.S.-Canada border was closed at the start of the pandemic, except for essential travel. The border reopened last year, but business travel — a major passenger segment for Air Canada — had not recovered enough until now to justify resuming year-round flights.

Breeze is marking its one-year anniversary at Bradley, is now offering 11 nonstop routes from the airport and plans an operations base at the airport. The operations base is expected to create 200 jobs tied to the airline’s expansion in Connecticut.

On Thursday, Breeze added Nashville four times a week on a seasonal basis. On Friday, Akron/Canton and Richmond began flying twice a week on a seasonal basis, plus Jacksonville, four times a week, year-round.

On Saturday, Breeze will launch Savannah, four times a week and Sarasota/Bradenton, twice weekly, both year-round.

On Sept. 7, Breeze plans to begin serving Las Vegas twice a week on a year-round basis.

Kenneth R. Gosselin can be reached at kgosselin@courant.com.