JFK, LaGuardia airports set record for number of passengers in 2024, Port Authority says

The Port Authority's four metropolitan area airports saw a record number of travelers in 2024, with a total of 145.9 million air passengers at Kennedy, LaGuardia, Newark-Liberty and Stewart International, the agency said.

Christmas-New Year's holiday and international travelers surpassed pre-pandemic records set in 2019, buoying the numbers, the Port Authority said.

In a statement released Wednesday, the Port Authority said Kennedy saw a 2% increase in travelers, LaGuardia 4% and Stewart, located in Orange County, a whopping 9%. Numbers at Newark-Liberty were equal to those in 2023.

Port Authority Chairman Kevin O'Toole attributed the increase to $30 billion in recent airport upgrades and redevelopments, the statement said.

"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," O'Toole said in the statement.

According to statistics released by the Port Authority, Kennedy serviced 63.3 million passengers in 2023, while Newark-Liberty saw 48.9 million, LaGuardia 33.5 million and Stewart 277,000.

The number of international passengers serviced by those airports — 52.3 million in 2024 — exceeded the 2019 pre-pandemic record of 50.9 million, the agency said in the statement. In 2024, Kennedy saw 63.3 million passengers; LaGuardia had 335 million travelers; Newark 48.9 million; and Stewart 277,000.

The Port Authority noted that for the second consecutive year Kennedy was named best airport in North America in Business Traveller magazine's annual reader survey.

LaGuardia earned a Skytrax 5-star rating in 2023 and in 2024 was named the best U.S. Airport by the Forbes Travel Guide. The Skytrax rating for LaGuardia was first-ever awarded for an airport terminal in the United States.

December saw 12.5 million passengers travel through the four airports, a 5% increase over what was a record December in 2023.

And between Dec. 21 and Jan. 2, 5.5 million passengers used Port Authority airports, making it the busiest Christmas / New Year holiday travel period on record — a 7% jump over 2023.

"A second consecutive record-breaking year, along with record-breaking international travel, is extraordinary," Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said in the statement Wednesday.

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”