Passenger Darlene Kuzmak checks in for a flight using a self-service kiosk at Logan International Airport in Boston.

BLOOMBERG PHOTO

WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — If passenger numbers are any indication, the desire for nonstop service between Europe and Bradley International Airport isn’t likely to abate even after Northwest Air Lines ends that route this fall.

Tourism and business leaders in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts say they’ve come to grips with the decision of the airline, which said overwhelming fuel costs made it inevitable despite the route’s popularity.

Now, regional officials and frequent fliers are hoping another airline steps in to fill the void or that Northwest resumes the route when, and if, oil prices drop from their record levels.

Northwest started nonstop service to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on July 1, 2007, and flights often exceeded 85 percent full during the popular summer travel months, Bradley officials said.

“This is the only flight that made money the first day it left its departure gate,” said Kirin Jain, Bradley’s director of route development. “We’ve proven a few things that we should carry loud and clear to the community out there.”

According to federal figures, about 25,500 passengers who started their trips at Bradley in the third and fourth quarters of 2006 — before the nonstop flight launched — were heading to Europe by connecting at other airports.

In the same time frame one year later, after the flight’s launch in July 2007, more than 58,000 passengers flew from Connecticut to Europe either on the nonstop Northwest flight or connecting flights.

From Amsterdam, passengers could connect to scores of tourism and business destinations in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Now, all Bradley passengers heading to Europe after Oct. 1 will have to do what they did before the Northwest flight launched: drive to Boston’s Logan Airport or one of the New York international airports, or board at Bradley and connect at another U.S. airport.

Loss of the Europe flight does not jeopardize Bradley’s status as an international airport, however. It still has routes to Toronto and Montreal, and recently started nonstop weekly service on Delta Air Lines to Cancun, Mexico.

Airlines have cut many long-haul routes at airports nationwide because those flights require the most fuel. Skyrocketing oil prices make it difficult to cover costs, since raising fares too much means driving away potential passengers.

News of the end of the Northwest flight to Amsterdam came just after Delta Air Lines announced plans to end its direct route to Los Angeles, Bradley’s only nonstop connection to the West Coast. Frontier Airlines, which has filed for bankruptcy protection, will end its daily nonstop flight to Denver on Sept. 4.

The fact that other airports are experiencing similar cutbacks is little comfort, Bradley officials say.

American Airlines recently announced it will leave several airports in November, including T.F. Green Airport in Warwick and Albany International Airport.

American also recently ended its service between John F. Kennedy International Airport and London’s Stansted Airport, and AirTran Airways is pulling out this fall from the Stewart International Airport in the Hudson Valley.

Regional business groups in Connecticut and Western Massachusetts teamed with airport officials this year to offer Northwest an incentive package in hopes of keeping the Amsterdam flight in place.

But the oil price crunch surpassed the benefits of a $650,000 incentive offer of reduced landing fees, marketing services and boosts in advertising.

Western Massachusetts tourism groups also have hosted travel agents and writers from Europe and translated promotional materials into German, French and Dutch to capitalize on the overseas visitors’ interests.

“The part we’re obviously concerned and disappointed about is that we had this direct link into an excellent airport in Europe that was very convenient for travelers, both European and American,” said Allan W. Blair, president of the Springfield-based Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts.

That organization spent about $25,000 in state and private money to market the area’s benefits in Europe last year.

Having the Amsterdam flight also helped lure a Belgian plastics recycler to launch a $3.4-million project in Springfield that will create 15 full-time jobs.

“We realize the [airline] industry is in turmoil globally due to fuel prices and other changes, so these route consolidations are an expected reaction,” Blair said. “We’re hoping the service was successful enough from Northwest’s point of view that they would consider reinstating it, or that another carrier would show interest.”

Bradley officials say they hope so, too.

Jain, the airport’s route development director, said they want to ride out the downswing by focusing on the strength of existing routes such as the consistently packed flights to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and the direct routes to Florida, St. Louis and other points.

Also, the proven demand for Europe flights may help Bradley recapture the Northwest route when the fuel spikes ease, or convince other carriers to fill the gap when they see the consistently high passenger numbers, she said.

“We have the numbers and we have data you can’t challenge; it’s real,” she said.