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When it comes to landing in New York, you’ll be spoiled for choice when it comes to airports! New York does not have a single airport but 3 major airports, among the most important in the United States:
- New York-JFK, the largest airport in New York. Located in South Queens, JFK is the 5th largest airport in the United States, with nearly 30 million passengers per year. A platform shared in 6 terminals.
- Newark, located in the state of New Jersey, directly across from New York Bay. Newark is the 15th largest airport in the United States, with nearly 20 million passengers per year. The airport has 3 terminals.
- LaGuardia, in the North of the Queens district. This airport is the 20th American airport, with nearly 15 million passengers per year. It is divided into 4 terminals.
If you come from Europe, you can immediately eliminate LaGuardia: this airport is geared towards domestic traffic and serving Canada. You then have to choose between JFK and Newark …
How to choose between JFK and Newark?
Most major airlines offer flights to JFK and Newark. This is the case with Air France, Norwegian, Lufthansa or British Airways. Here are my tips for choosing between JFK and Newark:
- Compare prices first and if a flight is struggling to fill up on one side, there may be an interesting fare difference. But don’t expect miracles either: for example, I did a test with Norwegian and, on a random date, I found a difference of 10 € in total …
- If the price is close or the same, then I advise you to choose the airport closest to your hotel. This will save you time on arrival and return. If your hotel is in lower Manhattan or New Jersey, definitely take Newark. If your hotel is in Brooklyn or Queens, then definitely go with JFK. What if your hotel is in Times Square and in Upper Manhattan? For having tested the 2 solutions, it is more of the same… A preference however for Newark, because the airport is a little less congested than JFK and we leave much faster, in particular for the passage of the immigration.
- I also recommend Newark for another reason: Newark can give you a nice view of New York from the landing. When the wind is in the right direction, the plane will descend quietly, skirting all of Manhattan: magical! But this is not guaranteed because it all depends on the direction of the wind …
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