If a casino opens at Bradley International Airport, it won't be located in a planned, new terminal that will replace the now demolished Murphy Terminal, the executive director of the Connecticut Airport Authority said Friday.

Both the new terminal and a new transportation center at the airport were potential sites submitted by the authority and the town of Windsor Locks to MMCT, a joint venture of the Mohegan and the Mashantucket Pequot tribes. But in June, the authority withdrew the prime site, the transportation center, because the tribes had not selected a location for the casino and the authority needed to advance the planning.

Kevin A. Dillon, the authority's executive director, said Friday the new terminal also can no longer be considered because the terminal would share a roadway with the transportation center, which now must be designed.

"The terminal has the same issue as the transportation center," Dillon said. "We had to move forward."

The operators of Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods want to establish a casino in the Hartford area. They sought proposed sites for a "satellite casino" intended to blunt the competitive pressure from a $950 million gaming and entertainment complex under construction by MGM Resorts International in nearby Springfield.

Dillon said the airport is still interested in hosting the casino. The authority has other options, Dillon said, including land along Route 75 and property next to the off-track betting parlor. Sportech Venues, which operates a betting parlor in the same building as Bobby V's Restaurant and Sports Bar, also submitted a proposal for the casino, but conceded its site was too small and would have to be combined with another property.

Dillon has said there is the potential for an "interim casino" at the airport's Sheraton hotel while a permanent one is built.

Dillon's comments came after a release of documents Friday that show the scope of gaming that was being proposed by the authority. The authority had publicly discussed both the transportation center and the new terminal, but without details; the documents described the potential for gambling before and after security checkpoints in the new terminal.

"To provide maximum use for all passengers, mini-TSA checkpoints have been incorporated in the casino adjacent to the terminal's two gate concourses — which have been positioned on the same level as the casino — enabling pre-security departing passengers who have been gaming to enter the concourses with no vertical move," according to the proposal submitted to MMCT in November.

MGM, which has been critical of the airport authority's board for discussing casino negotiations in executive sessions, obtained the proposal through a Freedom of Information request — and released the document Friday with more harsh words for the airport authority.

"Calling this a 'satellite casino' — which is how they all referred to this in public — is like calling the Grand Canyon a hole in the ground," Alan Feldman, an MGM executive vice president, said.

MGM also said the proposal makes scant reference to local approvals needed and does not mention that a referendum of Windsor Locks voters might be required.

Dillon said there will be plenty of opportunity for public comment on the casino, including Windsor Locks' commitment to hold a referendum, a vote by the authority's board and consideration by the state legislature.

Andrew Doba, a spokesman for MMCT, the tribal joint venture, said the airport's interest in hosting the gaming venue is well documented.

"This latest attack by MGM reeks of desperation," Doba said. "Let's be clear. Any site that we pursue will go through extensive public vetting, and [we] will ultimately seek approval from the Connecticut legislature."

In addition to Windsor Locks, the tribes are considering East Hartford and Hartford as potential sites for the casino. The state legislature would have to lend final approval to any expansion of gaming off the tribes' southeastern Connecticut reservations.

The tribes have said they envision a casino with 2,000 slot machines and 100 to 150 tables, with an estimated development cost of $200 to $300 million. The size of the casino and other amenities would range from 150,000 to 350,000 square feet.

MGM is appealing a federal court ruling dismissing its complaint that legislation excluded all but the Mohegans and Mashantucket Pequots from opening a third Connecticut casino. The court ruled the law does not favor the tribes over other potential competitors; and it does not exclude other operators from seeking to open a casino in Connecticut.

The Kent-based Schaghticoke Tribal Nation was pursuing a similar lawsuit, but withdrew it this week. An attorney for the Schaghticokes could not be reached for comment Friday.