Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon, who oversees Bradley International and five other state airports, announced Tuesday he will retire next January.

Dillon has been the executive director since the Authority was created in 2013. Before the creation of the quasi-public agency, the responsibility for running Bradley and Connecticut's five general aviation airports in Danielson, Groton, Hartford, Oxford, and Windham, fell to the state Transportation Department.

Dillon said he is proud of the "significant milestones" the Authority has been able to achieve during his tenure in the job.

"I want to thank the CAA Board of Directors and my team for their hard work over the years," he said in a written statement. "I have every confidence that the organization's success will continue into the future. Leading an organization in this community has been a privilege."

Dillon was hired to run the agency in 2012 and was able to get the federal regulatory approvals needed to make the transition of operations of the state's airports from the state DOT to the newly established Authority a year later.

Tony Sheridan, chairman of the Authority's board, said the agency "is very fortunate to have benefited from Kevin's strong leadership since his arrival as the organization's first executive director."

"As a direct result of his efforts, the CAA has experienced sustained nonstop route growth at Bradley International Airport, been recognized with national awards, and completed hundreds of millions of dollars worth of capital projects across our entire airport system," Sheridan said in a written statement. "It is not an overstatement to say that Connecticut's air travelers, tourism industry, and overall economy are better off due to Kevin's tenure at the CAA, and we will all be sad to see him go."

During Dillon's tenure, there has been an increase of more than 35 percent in nonstop flight destinations from Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, just north of Hartford. The economic impact of all of the airports overseen by the Authority is now at $4 billion of total output, which includes an increase of $1 billion at Bradley alone compared to the last economic impact study done for the agency, according to state officials.