March 02, 2005

Air traffic hits record - 94 mln NY passengers in 2004

Nearly 94 million passengers last year passed through the three main airports serving New York City, the highest level on record, according to figures released by the Port Authority. The boost was due in part to domestic travel on low-cost carrier JetBlue Airways, which is now the biggest airline at JFK airport.

Passenger traffic at JFK increased 18.2 percent, to 37.5 million passengers, the New York Times reported. JetBlue, which hauled 8.7 million passengers into or out of Kennedy last year, is currently celebrating its fifth year in business with special deals and contests.

Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey had 31.9 million passengers in 2004, still shy of its record of 34.2 million passengers in 2000, New Jersey's Star-Ledger reports. (Newark, which was used by hijackers on the morning of Sept. 11, is also in the news today for a security screener getting caught with brass knuckles.)

Traffic at LaGuardia Airport was up 8.7 percent from the previous year, with 24.4 million passengers.

The increase for the three airports combined was about double the national average, Star-Ledger says, quoting Anthony Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority, the bi-state agency that operates the three airports.

The previous annual high for the three airports was set in 2000 at 92.4 million. The numbers obviously fell after the Sept. 2001 attacks; it was down to 81.6 million in 2002 and still only 83.6 million in 2003. This past October, November and December were the busiest quarter ever at the region's airports, the Times reports. And August 2001 is still the busiest single month on record.

March 2, 2005 08:09 AM in Arrivology

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