Decades of renewal: the Terminal 6 construction site at JFK

It’s an amazing feat: Since 2017, New York and New Jersey have been renovating their long-neglected LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and John F. Kennedy (JFK) airports into are “global gateways” for a total of $30 billion with ambitious new construction. program. JFK alone, the largest airport in the metropolitan area, accounts for $19 billion of this. As reported, the new Terminal 1 on the south side has been under construction here since September 2022 (9.5 billion dollars). Business giant Delta Air Lines and project partner JFK International Terminal is also expanding its Terminal 4 for $1.5 billion and American Airlines invested $400 million in expanding its Terminal 8, which was completed in November 2022.

Suitable for European travelers

The cranes have been turning at the future Terminal 6 for a year now, which will be particularly relevant for European passengers, as Lufthansa, Switzerland, Austria and Brussels (and maybe soon also ITA) to move in and process their passengers here. Five large airrooms (Lufthansa alone with 3,000 m² of space) are part of the building of the building, which is a narrow, asymmetrical bar located against the edge of the apron to save space. It is easily accessible by car (with its own parking garage) and taxi as well as the JFK airport “AirTrain”. The latter also connects to the New York subway. The first five of the ten gates are expected to be operational as early as 2026, and Terminal 6 is expected to be completed in 2028.

The construction of the hulls will be completed soon

“When you see the steel frame of the new Terminal 6 growing, it’s clear that JFK’s transformation into a world-class hub is coming to fruition,” said Rick Cotton, who, as head of The Port Authority, also a central hub. head of all airports in the area. “This fantastic new building is a key element of our transformation program which will bring unprecedented economic development opportunities to the communities in the airport area,” the head of the authority told an interim review. – summer At a cost of $4.2 billion, this new one-acre development alone is expected to create 4,000 jobs—including 2,000 union construction workers (mandated by the Port Authority)—and thus bring $1.9 billion more in wages for the region. In mid-July, the New York Port Authority selected artists to decorate the new building with works of art, including the famous German artist Kerstin Brätsch. Just to the right of Terminal 6, within walking distance, is JetBlue Terminal 5. It is also of interest to European travelers, as the New York airline now also serves routes across the Atlantic from Boston and JFK to London with the A321LR. JetBlue is getting at least 13 of its ordered Airbus A321neo delivered as “LR” and at least another 13 as “XLR” with even longer range. This means that there are no limits to the imagination as to whether JetBlue could one day fly to continental European destinations, such as Berlin or Hamburg, which could then use the international arrival gates at Use a new terminal 6.

A cult hotel today

The JetBlue Terminal 5 building, newly constructed in 2008, surrounds what appears to be the most famous of New York’s airports, the TWA Flight Center, which opened in 1962. this futuristic concrete building by Finnish-American star architect Eero Saarinen was used for flight operations until 2001. However, there were only two relatively small gate areas designed for Boeing 707 generation aircraft. With the jumbo jets a had been working here for a long time, the magnificent and unique finishing building reached its functional limits. Because of its uniqueness, New Yorkers booked it and turned it into a new airport hotel, which has a rooftop swimming pool overlooking the wide aprons on the marsh near Atlantic coast. The TWA Flight Center is now located in an inner courtyard. As a comforting visual treat, a Lockheed L-1649A Starliner built in 1958, the newest version of the four-engine Constellation family, is parked here. She is a real New Yorker who was stationed at Idlewild Airport, then called JFK, in the late 1950s. Anyway, the local museum plane was a spare parts donor for the Super Star restoration planned by Lufthansa. After it was demolished, the hull was completed, repainted in TWA colors and ceremonially brought to New York, by motorcade through Manhattan.

The sun instead of neon lights

The new Terminal 6 even wants to build on the wonderful views of the old listed building. Incoming international travelers should arrive at the new passport control in a floodlit glass corridor, lit by daylight, so that the first impression does not make guests international the national of the city into an empty cellar without a window, as it once was. The port authority also makes a special effort on the departure concept: There are wide canopies on the upper floor above the car driveway, the largest at JFK, to protect passengers. Not a bad idea with New York weather, which ranges from biting summer heat to tropical downpours to blizzards and freezing temperatures. This will take you to the main departure hall, which will be marked with self-check-in booths and baggage drop machines. From here you will go to the security gate, where there are conveyor belts for unpacking the contents of your bags next to the queues intended to shorten the processing time. The latest control technologies, such as CT hand luggage scanners and biometric facial recognition, are also intended to speed up the processes.

Go with the NYC feel

After security you then stand on the gallery above the center on the air side. New York restaurants and shops are here, and should be staffed by local mid-sized businesses. From the concourse area, as in the TWA Flight Center, you can see the apron through large windows, with departure gates and gate waiting rooms spread far to the sides. Meanwhile, another customer, Cathay Pacific, has signed up for Terminal 6. The Chinese from Hong Kong, known for their quality service, currently serves JFK Airport three times a day on the way between the financial centers and they also want to establish a large lounge in Terminal 6. Nine of the ten gates at Terminal 6 are designed for wide-body aircraft. “With the construction of Terminal 6, all of our construction projects are underway or have already been completed,” said Rick Cotton, head of the port authority. “The historic investments are a vote of confidence in the future of our region as it seeks to continue not only with the largest number of international travelers in the United States, but also as one of the best airports in the world.”

Data

John F. Kennedy International Airport
IATA code: JFK
ICAO code: KJFK
Owner: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ)
Area: 2104 ha
Runway: 4L / 22R: 3460 m; 4R / 22L: 2560 m; 13L / 31R: 3050 m; 13R/31L/ 4420 m
Flight trends 2023: 481 000
Passengers 2023: 62.5 Mio.
Air products 2023: 1.43 million t
Opening: 1948 and Idlewild Airport
Active endings: 5
Gate location: 130
web: www.jfairport.com