Passenger traffic at Kennedy Airport has taken off since January – surpassing nearly every other major airport in the nation, a new report says.
“The traffic levels at Kennedy are back up, quite a bit more than at most other airports across the country,” Kurt Forsgren, a director at ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, told Crain’s New York Business.
The airport’s boom comes mainly courtesy of upstart discount carrier JetBlue, which brought in 40 percent more passengers in the past year, analysts said.
Overall, the airport attracted 11.8 million fliers in the first half of the year – a 6.6 percent jump over the same time period last year, the mag said, citing figures from the Port Authority.
By comparison, La Guardia Airport had a mere 1 percent increase, to 8.7 million passengers, while Newark Airport reported a 3.2 percent lift, to just over 11 million travelers.
“Other airports around the country are languishing, but if you look at Kennedy, the growth is quite noteworthy,” said Bill DeCota, PA director of aviation.
To help the airport deal with – and encourage – more growth, Port Authority officials have expanded parking, cargo and runway space at JFK.