TheNew York metropolitan area has the busiest airport system in theUnited States and the second-busiest in the world afterLondon. It is the country's most frequently usedport of entry and departure for international flights.
The metro area has three major airports:John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK),Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) andLaGuardia Airport (LGA), all operated since 1947 by thePort Authority of New York and New Jersey.[1] In 2014, they were used by more than 117 million passengers.[2][3][4] Until 2022, the three shared theInternational Air Transport Association airport code (IATA code) "NYC"; Newark now only uses EWR.[5] JFK and Newark are connected to regional rail systems byAirTrain JFK andAirTrain Newark respectively.
Theclass B airspace used by the three airports is extremely congested. TheFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) limits the number of flights per hour but they rank among the top five airports in the United States for delays.[6][7]
The area also includes several satellite orreliever airports that provide commercialair carrier service on a much smaller scale as well as numerousgeneral aviation airports,heliports, andseaplane bases.[8]
Teterboro Airport is the oldest operating airport in the New York metropolitan area. Walter C. Teter (1863–1929) acquired the property in 1917.[9]While other localities had municipal airports, New York City itself had a multitude of private airfields, and thus did not see the need for a municipal airport until the late 1920s.[10][11]Flushing Airport opened in 1927, quickly becoming the city's busiest airport; it closed in 1984.[12]Newark Liberty International Airport opened in 1928.[13] It was followed in 1930 byFloyd Bennett Field: New York City's first municipal airport, built largely to serve the growth of commercial aviation after World War I.[14]LaGuardia Airport was opened in 1939,[15] and Floyd Bennett Field was closed for general aviation two years later.[16]John F. Kennedy International Airport opened as Idlewild Airport in 1948.[17]
From the 1940s through the 1970s, many airlines provided ticketing, baggage, and airport ground transportation services at remote terminals located inManhattan. The need for remote terminals arose because at that time airlines were competing with traditional forms of transportation (e.g., railroads) that operated between city centers and there were limitations in passenger processing capacity and parking supply at airports.[18] The42nd Street Airlines Terminal opened in 1941 onPark Avenue across fromGrand Central Terminal. Traffic congestion on streets in the area of the 42nd Street Airlines Terminal led to the opening of theEast Side Airline Terminal in 1953 to provide service to Idlewild and La Guardia airports from its location near the entrance to theQueens–Midtown Tunnel and the opening of theWest Side Airlines Terminal in 1955 to provide service to Newark Airport from its location near the entrance to theLincoln Tunnel. After the opening of these new remote terminals the 42nd Street Airlines Terminal was renamed the Airlines Building and became a ticketing-only facility.[19] By the early 1970s, there was less need for remote terminals because most airlines had acquired better ticketing and baggage handling facilities at the airports and more air passengers were traveling to or from the suburbs rather than having trip origins or destinations in Manhattan.[18] The West Side Airlines Terminal closed in 1972, the Airlines Building was demolished in 1978, and the East Side Airline Terminal closed in 1984.[19][20]
TheCradle of Aviation Museum, theAviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey, andNewark Metropolitan Airport Buildings preserve the history of aviation in the New York metro area.
The vast majority of airspace above the metropolitan area iscontrolled by theFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) and split into complex sectors that organize the flow of flights to and from the area's many airports, as well as transitory air traffic between neighboring regions.
Flights undervisual flight rules (VFR) are allowed in theEast River VFR corridor and the Hudson River VFR corridor, which extend north from theVerrazano-Narrows Bridge. TheHudson River corridor allows VFR flight between Manhattan and the New JerseyHudson Waterfront north to theAlpine Tower just north of New York City. TheEast River corridor ends southwest of LGA airspace at the northern end ofRoosevelt Island.[24][25]
As of 2014, about 1% of flights to the Port Authority-controlled airports use theNext Generation Air Transportation System, which relies on theGlobal Positioning System instead of radar.[26]
John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is the major entry point for international arrivals in the United States, and it is the largest international air freight gateway in the nation by value of shipments.[27] Sections of the airport have been aforeign trade zone since 1984.[28][29] About 100 airlines from more than 50 countries operate flights to JFK. The JFK–London Heathrow route is the leading U.S. international airport pair with over 2.9 million passengers in 2000.[30] Other top international destinations from JFK areCharles de Gaulle Airport inParis,Incheon International Airport inSeoul,Barajas Airport inMadrid,Ben Gurion International Airport inTel Aviv,Cibao International Airport inSantiago de los Caballeros,Las Américas International Airport inSanto Domingo,Frankfurt Airport inFrankfurt,Narita andTokyo International Airports inTokyo,Changi Airport inSingapore, andGuarulhos International Airport inSão Paulo.[30] The airport is located alongJamaica Bay nearHoward Beach, Queens. The elevatedAirTrain JFKpeople mover system connects JFK to theNew York City Subway and theLong Island Rail Road.
Opened in 1928,Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) is considered the first major commercial airport in North America.Amelia Earhart dedicated theNewark Metropolitan Airport Administration Building in 1935. It is the fifth busiest international air gateway.[31] From 2003, Newark became the terminus of the world's longest non-stop scheduled airline route, Continental's service toHong Kong by United Airlines and Cathay Pacific in 2014 respectively.
In 2004, Singapore Airlines broke Continental's record by starting direct 18-hour flights to Singapore. The airport is located inNewark, New Jersey, about 12 miles (19 km) west of downtown Manhattan. The top three international destinations from Newark areLondon,Toronto andTel Aviv.[32] It connects toNJ Transit commuter trains andAmtrak intercity trains via theAirTrain Newark monorail. In 2022, theInternational Air Transport Association removed Newark from the NYC city code.[33]
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LaGuardia Airport (LGA), the smallest of the New York area's primary airports, handles domestic air service and flights to Canada. It is named forFiorello H. La Guardia, the city's Depression-era mayor known as a reformist and strong supporter of theNew Deal. The airport is located in northern Queens, about 6 miles (9.7 km) from downtown Manhattan.
In 1984, a "perimeter rule" was introduced to reduce congestion, which prohibits incoming and outgoing flights that exceed 1,500 miles (2,400 km) except on Saturdays, when the ban is lifted, and toDenver, Colorado, which has agrandfathered exemption. As a result, most transcontinental and international flights use JFK and Newark (although there are short-haul international flights to the Canadian cities ofToronto,Montreal andOttawa).[34] The LGA-Toronto-Pearson route is the leading US international pair by number of flights, with 17,038 flights in 2019.[35]
Plans were announced in July 2015 to entirely rebuild LaGuardia Airport in a multibillion-dollar project to replace its aging facilities; this project would also accommodate a newAirTrain LaGuardia connection.[36][37][38]
Long Island MacArthur Airport (ISP), otherwise known as Islip Airport, is located inRonkonkoma, New York, inSuffolk County, about 44 miles (71 km) east ofManhattan. It is owned and operated by theTown of Islip, and has been designated by the FAA an official New York airport. This airport is primarily served bylow-cost carriersSouthwest Airlines,JetBlue,Frontier Airlines, andBreeze Airways to domestic destinations mostly in the southeast.[39]
Stewart International Airport (SWF) is located about 60 miles (97 km) northwest of the city inOrange County, New York. In 2007, thePort Authority of New York and New Jersey took control of operations at Stewart and has committed $500 million to its upgrade and expansion.[40] From June 2017 to September 2019 Stewart was the only secondary airport in the New York metro area offering flights to Europe. This was enabled by a main runway of over 11,000 feet.
Trenton–Mercer Airport (TTN) is located in and owned byMercer County, New Jersey, nearTrenton. It began to see a return of scheduled passenger service in 2013, becoming a focus city for Frontier Airlines, servicing three year-round nonstop destinations.[41]
Westchester County Airport (HPN) is located in and owned byWestchester County, New York, about 33 miles (53 km) north of the city, along the border with Connecticut. It sees service to a dozen destinations, and has seen increases of nearly 100,000 enplanements in the period from 2008 to 2010.[42][43]
Republic Airport (FRG) is ageneral aviationreliever airport located inEast Farmingdale, Long Island, on the border ofNassau andSuffolk counties. It is the busiest general aviation airport in the New York Metropolitan region, primarily servingLong Island and is owned by theNew York State Department of Transportation, who contracts its operation to a third-party. The airport is about 28 miles (45 km) from midtown Manhattan.
Teterboro Airport (TEB) is ageneral aviationreliever airport located in the Boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights inBergen County, New Jersey. It is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who contracts its operation to a third-party company. The airport is 12 miles (19 km) from midtown Manhattan in theNew Jersey Meadowlands, which makes it very popular for private and corporate aircraft.
In addition, there are many smaller general aviation airports, as well as severalseaplane bases in the port district and the adjoining region. Among them are:
There are numerousheliports in the New York metro area. Three of the busiest are in Manhattan:
A heliport operated from the roof of thePan Am Building inmidtown Manhattan from 1965 through 1968 and again for a short period in 1977, before a fatal accident caused it to close.[45][46] In 1968, theEast 60th Street Heliport was opened to divert general aviation aircraft from the major commercial airports to smaller airfields (such as Teterboro), where passengers could board a helicopter and travel onward to Midtown Manhattan; the heliport was shut down in the late 1990s amid noise and safety concerns.[47][48]
Seaplane bases in the New York metropolitan area include:
From 1934 to the mid-1980s,Wall Street Skyport served as a seaplane base that was primarily used by suburban commuters working in theFinancial District ofLower Manhattan. Since 2015, New Jersey has largely prohibited the use of seaplanes on navigable waters.[49]
An average of 40% of passenger aircraft delays in the U.S. originated in the New York metropolitan area, some in the area and others due to cascading effects.[50] One-third of aircraft in the national airspace system move through the New York area at some point during a typical day.[51] The three major airports rank among the worst airports for delays in the U.S. despiteFAA caps limiting the number of takeoffs and landings per hour to 83 at both JFK and EWR and 71 at LGA.[52] While an increased demand for passengers and freight is foreseen, limited land availability in the heavily urbanized area and prohibitive costs constrict expansion of JFK, EWR, and LGA. Approaches to mitigate delays and increase capacity include costly runway expansion projects and greater use ofreliever airports. Before the establishment of theGreat Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in 1960, the PANYNJ had proposed to build an airport at the location inMorris County, New Jersey but was widely opposed. Studies conducted by theFederal Aviation Administration, theRegional Plan Association, the PANYNJ, and others have identified few sites within the region that would satisfy the requirements for a major airport and evaluated potential dispersion of flights to outlying commercial airports, includingAtlantic City International Airport (ACY),Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE),Bradley International Airport (BDL), andTweed New Haven Regional Airport (HVN).[53][54][55] In July 2013, the PANYNJ took control of ACY.[56]
The first municipal airport in New York City wasFloyd Bennett Field, developed to lure business away from Newark, but it was ultimately unsuccessful as a general aviation airport and became a Naval Air Station in 1941.[16] It is now part ofGateway National Recreation Area. TheNew York City Police Department leases facilities for their helicopter operations from theNational Park Service.
Flushing Airport was another early airport in New York City. It opened in 1927 and was the busiest airport in New York for a time. A decade later it was overshadowed by the larger LaGuardia Airport located nearby. The airport was decommissioned in 1984 after a fatal accident in 1977.[12] Now the area is wetlands owned by theNew York City Economic Development Corporation.
Holmes Airport existed in theJackson Heights section of Queens from 1929 until 1940. It was put out of business by competition from the new LaGuardia Airport, nearby.Naval Air Station Rockaway near Fort Tilden andMiller Field on theSouth Shore of Staten Island were military airfields facingLower New York Bay. Rockaway was active in the 1920s, and Miller from 1921 until 1969. Both are part of Gateway National Recreation Area.
Under the terms of agreements with the City of New York, dated April 17, 1947, and with the City of Newark, dated October 22, 1947, The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is responsible for the improvement, development, operation and maintenance of LaGuardia Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport.
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)Newark and Kennedy takeoffs and landings are limited to 81 an hour from 6 a.m. to 10:59 p.m. daily; LaGuardia flights are restricted to 71 hourly from 6 a.m. to 9:59 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 9:59 p.m. on Sunday. The FAA placed the cap on LaGuardia in 2001 after letting carriers exceed limits the previous year that had been in place since 1968. The FAA extended the LaGuardia cap in 2006 and in 2009 lowered it to 71 from 75.