John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is the principal international airport serving New York City. It occupies a coastal site in south-eastern Queens, beside Jamaica Bay, and uses the IATA code JFK and ICAO location indicator KJFK. The airport handled 62,629,455 revenue passengers, 464,281 aircraft movements and 1,560,152 short tons of revenue freight in 2025.[1]
Location and role
JFK is about 13 miles south-east of central New York City and approximately 15 highway miles from Midtown Manhattan. Its 4,930-acre site includes an 880-acre central terminal area and is bounded by Jamaica Bay on its southern side. The airport is one of the large commercial airports operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and is owned by the City of New York.[1][2]
The airport combines substantial local demand with connecting passenger traffic. Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways maintain major operations at JFK, while American Airlines and numerous foreign carriers link New York with destinations across the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. In 2025 Delta carried 18.54 million JFK passengers, JetBlue 14.52 million and American 7.44 million.[1]
JFK is also the New York metropolitan region's principal international air-cargo gateway. Its cargo areas support scheduled freighters, passenger-aircraft belly freight, express traffic and specialist handling for commodities such as pharmaceuticals and perishables.[1][3]
History
Construction began in 1942 on part of the former Idlewild Golf Course. The project was intended to relieve the constrained LaGuardia Airport and provide New York with a larger long-term airfield. The Port Authority began operating the site on 1 June 1947 under a lease with the City of New York, and commercial flights began on 9 July 1948 at what was formally New York International Airport but was widely known as Idlewild.[1]
The airport's original terminal concept gave individual airlines architecturally distinct buildings around the central terminal area. These included the International Arrivals Building, the Pan American Worldport, the Trans World Airlines Flight Center and facilities developed for United, Eastern and National. Although most of those terminals have since been replaced or demolished, the former TWA Flight Center has been retained and adapted as part of the TWA Hotel beside Terminal 5.[1][4]
New York International Airport was rededicated as John F. Kennedy International Airport on 24 December 1963, one month after the president's assassination. The airport received its one-billionth passenger in 2000. A 2004 agreement between the Port Authority and the City of New York extended the authority's operation of JFK through 2050.[1]
AirTrain JFK opened in 2003, giving the terminal area a rail connection to Jamaica and Howard Beach. The airport received the first Airbus A380 to visit the United States during route-proving flights in March 2007, followed by its first scheduled A380 service, operated by Emirates, in August 2008.[1]
Terminals
As at August 2026, JFK's official passenger information lists five operating terminals: 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8. The numbering retains gaps left by earlier closures and demolitions, and the terminals do not form one continuous building.[5]
Terminal 1 opened in 1998 and has 11 gates. It principally accommodates international airlines. The adjacent Terminal 2 was demolished in 2023 to clear part of the site for the New Terminal One project.[1][6]
Terminal 4 opened in 2001 as a privately operated international terminal. Successive expansion programmes have made it the airport's largest current terminal: the Port Authority's 2025 report records 36 gates and 26.26 million passengers during that year. Delta is its largest airline, alongside a broad group of international carriers.[1][5]
Terminal 5 opened in 2008 as JetBlue's principal JFK base. It has 29 gates and was expanded with an international-arrivals facility completed in 2014. The preserved TWA Flight Center, designed by Eero Saarinen, sits at the front of the terminal complex but no longer serves as an airline check-in building.[1][4]
Terminal 7 remains in use while Terminal 6 is built on adjoining land. It is planned to close and be demolished during the second phase of the Terminal 6 project. Terminal 8, the main American Airlines terminal, completed an expansion in 2022 that added space and converted parts of the gate system for additional wide-body aircraft; British Airways and several other Oneworld carriers subsequently consolidated there.[1][6]
Terminal assignments can change during the redevelopment programme. Current airport or airline information should therefore be used for a particular flight rather than treating historic terminal allocations as permanent.[5]
Runways and airfield
JFK has four runways arranged as two pairs at approximately right angles. The FAA's published airport data gives the following physical dimensions:[7]
| Runway | Surface | Physical dimensions |
| 04L/22R | Grooved concrete | 12,079 x 200 ft (3,682 x 61 m) |
| 04R/22L | Grooved asphalt | 8,400 x 200 ft (2,560 x 61 m) |
| 13L/31R | Grooved concrete | 10,000 x 200 ft (3,048 x 61 m) |
| 13R/31L | Grooved concrete | 14,511 x 200 ft (4,423 x 61 m) |
Runway 13R/31L is the longest. Several runway ends have displaced thresholds, so their landing distance available is shorter than the full pavement length. Operational use depends on wind, weather, traffic flow, maintenance and noise procedures; crews use current declared distances, NOTAMs and air-traffic instructions rather than physical length alone.[7][2]
Passenger and airline operations
JFK handled 62.63 million revenue passengers in 2025. International passengers numbered 34.53 million and domestic passengers 28.10 million, making international traffic the larger component. The total was 1.0 per cent below the 63.27 million passengers recorded in 2024.[1]
The airport is a hub for Delta and an important base for JetBlue. American also maintains a sizeable operation, while foreign network airlines provide extensive long-haul connectivity. The presence of independent terminals has historically meant that airline facilities, security checkpoints and baggage systems are distributed around the central terminal area rather than concentrated in one building.[1][5]
Cargo
JFK handled 1,560,152 short tons of revenue freight in 2025, comprising 426,826 domestic and 1,133,325 international short tons. Freight volume was 6.6 per cent lower than in 2024. The airport has several cargo zones outside the passenger-terminal core, with warehouses, aircraft stands and road access for freight forwarders and handling companies.[1][3]
The Port Authority has pursued staged replacement of older cargo buildings. The Cargo Area D programme, for example, provides new warehouse and apron infrastructure on land formerly occupied by ageing facilities. Such projects are distinct from the passenger-terminal redevelopment even though both affect the wider airfield layout.[3]
Ground transport
AirTrain JFK links all passenger terminals with car parks, Federal Circle and the airport's external rail connections. At Jamaica station passengers can transfer to the Long Island Rail Road and New York City Subway; at Howard Beach they can transfer to the subway. Travel within the airport system is free, while journeys entering or leaving at Jamaica or Howard Beach are charged under the current fare system.[8]
Road access is principally from the Van Wyck Expressway and JFK Expressway. Taxis, app-based vehicles, private cars, buses, coaches, hotel shuttles and hire cars also serve the airport. Construction has caused temporary changes to road routes and pick-up points, so live airport guidance is particularly important during the redevelopment programme.[9][10]
Redevelopment
JFK is undergoing a $19 billion redevelopment involving two new terminals, expansion of Terminals 4 and 8, airfield and utility works, and a rebuilt roadway network. The programme is being delivered through Port Authority infrastructure projects and privately financed terminal leases.[11][6]
The New Terminal One is planned as a 2.4-million-square-foot international terminal with 23 gates when fully built. Construction began in 2022. A Port Authority financing document published in 2026 records that its initial opening had been delayed to October 2026; the existing Terminal 1 therefore remained in operation in August 2026.[6]
Terminal 6 is being built between Terminals 5 and 7. Its first phase comprises a headhouse, arrivals and departures facilities and five gates, with a further five gates planned after Terminal 7 is demolished. The Port Authority expected the phases in 2026 and 2028 respectively, but these dates describe project expectations rather than completed facilities. The airport's current terminal directory is the controlling source for what is open to passengers.[6][5]
Traffic statistics
| Year | Revenue passengers | Aircraft movements | Revenue freight |
| 2024 | 63,265,984 | 468,570 | 1,670,715 short tons |
| 2025 | 62,629,455 | 464,281 | 1,560,152 short tons |
The Port Authority counts domestic and international passengers and freight separately before combining them into airport totals. Aircraft movements include arrivals and departures. These annual measures should not be treated as live operational counts.[1]
Related pages
Sources
2025 Annual Airport Traffic Report - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 2026
FAA Chart Supplement, Northeast - Federal Aviation Administration, effective 20 February 2025
United States AIP: KJFK - Federal Aviation Administration, accessed 29 August 2026
JFK Airport terminals - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, accessed 29 August 2026
Port Authority Series 251 official statement - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 2026
2026-2035 capital plan announcement - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 20 November 2025
AirTrain JFK - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, accessed 29 August 2026
Public transportation - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, accessed 29 August 2026
JFK construction impacts - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, accessed 29 August 2026
North Cargo redevelopment environmental assessment - Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, 2025
TWA Flight Center - US National Park Service, accessed 29 August 2026
Image source and licence: JFK Terminal 5 aerial view - Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
