This year is seeing record traffic numbers in several countries across the world. In the United States, the New York area (in which three airports –JFK International, Newark Liberty, and LaGuardia– can be found) broke the pre-pandemic record for passenger numbers in April.

A record month

This week, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced the traffic numbers for April in the three airports serving the area, JFK, EWR, and LGA). In April 0223, more robust international travel demand led to the increase in travelers served in these three airports, which, collectively, saw an 8% increase in international travelers compared to the previous month.

Altogether, the three major airports served a total of 12 million passengers in April, said the Port Authority. The John F. Kennedy Airport, Newark, and LaGuardia exceeded passenger volume levels by 1%, 6%, and 3%, respectively, compared to its previous record for the month of pre-pandemic April 2019. In total, JFK served 5.2 million passengers, Newark 4.2 million, and LaGuardia 2.7 million.

Strong numbers in 2023

During the first quarter of 2023, the Port Authority’s commercial airports also surpassed their previous record high for any first quarter. The three airports received 32 million passengers between January and March. This number reflected an increase of nearly one million passengers compared to the same period in 2019, the previous pre-pandemic record.

In particular, new first-quarter record highs were set at Newark and LaGuardia airports with 11.1 million and 7.2 million passengers, respectively (their previous records were 10.4 million and 6.7 million in 2019).

Each of New York airports has different purposes and serves distinct roles. Do you want to know more? Check out this article on the subject.

This strong performance has been seen across the United States. The country is leaving behind the COVID-19 crisis on the air transport industry. Last weekend, in which Memorial Day was celebrated, saw strong numbers. On Friday, May 26, the Transportation Security Administration registered 2.74 million passengers. That’s a 6.7% increase versus pre-pandemic levels.

Plenty of operations this summer

The traffic numbers at New York area airports will not go down in the following months. On the contrary, it is expected to increase, as the summer season begins. As of June 2023, the three airports have 11,825 weekly departures, according to data from Cirium. JFK has the most, with 4,401 weekly departures and 757,254 seats available (the A321ceo is the airport’s leading aircraft operating at this hub). Newark has 3,978 weekly departures and 596,812 seats available (averaging 150 per departure). Finally, LaGuardia has 3,446 weekly departures and 391,088 seats available (or 113.5 per departure).

United Airlines operate the largest number of flights with 2,074 weekly departures, mostly from Newark. Republic Airways, a regional carrier operating service for major airlines in the United States, operates 1,830 weekly departures from these airports, and JetBlue operates 1,699 weekly departures.

Have you recently been to any of the three New York airports cited in this report? How was your experience? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Cirium.

Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.

• 

  New York JFK Airport

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  JFK/KJFK

  Country:

  United States

  CEO:

  Rick Cotton (Executive Director of Port Authority of NY and NJ)

  Passenger Count :

  16,630,642 (2020)

  Runways :

  4L/22R - 3,682m (12,079 ft) | 4R/22L - 2,560m (8,400 ft) | 13L/31R - 3,048m (10,000 ft) | 13R/31L - 4,423m (14,511 ft)

  Terminals:

  Terminal 1 | Terminal 2 | Terminal 4 | Terminal 5 | Terminal 7 | Terminal 8

• 

  Newark Liberty International Airport

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  EWR/KEWR

  Country:

  United States

  CEO:

  James Gill

  Passenger Count :

  15,892,892 (2020)

  Runways :

  4L/22R - 3,353m (11,000 ft) | 4R/22L - 3,048m (10,000 ft) | 11/29 - 2,050m (6,726 ft)

  Terminals:

  Terminal A | Terminal B | Terminal C

• 

  LaGuardia Airport

  IATA/ICAO Code:

  LGA/KLGA

  Country:

  United States

  CEO:

  Stewart Steeves

  Passenger Count :

  8,245,192 (2020)

  Runways :

  04/22 - 2,134m (7,001ft) | 13/31 - 2,135m (7,003ft)

  Terminals:

  Terminal A | Terminal B | Terminal C | Terminal D