The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) has announced a record-breaking year for passenger numbers at the agency’s commercial airports.
Initial estimates state that over the course of 2024, the agency saw a total of 145.9 million passengers travelling through John F. Kennedy International (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA), Newark Liberty International (EWR), and New York Stewart International (SWF) airports.
2024 also saw record-breaking demands for international travel, which overtook previous records set in 2019 with 52.9 million passengers travelling through the airports, an increase of 1.4 million over the pre-pandemic record.
Domestically, the four airports saw a total of 93.6 million travellers, just below 2023’s record of 94.2 million.
Port Authority Chairman Kevin O’Toole, said:Reaching nearly 146 million passengers in 2024 is a remarkable milestone and reflects the success of our unprecedented $30 billion in airport redevelopments.
This record number of travelers signifies a full post-pandemic recovery and highlights the success we’ve seen modernizing the region's airports into world-class gateways. As we transform Newark Liberty and JFK, the influx of passengers — especially the record-breaking demand for international travel — demonstrates that the future of air travel in New York and New Jersey is stronger than ever.
Increased demand follows significant redevelopments at three of the PANYNJ’s major airports, including the finalisation of EWR’s new Terminal 1 building in January 2023, as well as the opening of LGA’s Terminal B in 2020.
The airports also saw a record-breaking December and holiday period, with 12.5 million passengers travelling during the month of December, a 5% increase over previous records set in 2023. Numbers during the peak holiday travel period also hit new heights of 5.5 million passengers, a 7% jump above records set in 2023.
