JetBlue is preparing to further expand its footprint at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport with a new international terminal.
The airline recently celebrated a groundbreaking on the $4.2 billion Terminal 6 project, which it said reinforces JetBlue’s commitment to JFK and New York.
The forthcoming terminal will connect to JetBlue’s existing Terminal 5 at the airport, adding more gates and expanding the airline’s opportunity to schedule more flights and routes.
The terminal project is a public-private partnership between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and JFK Millennium Partners, which is a consortium made-up of JetBlue, Vantage Airport Group and American Triple I, which is a certified minority-owned investor, owner, developer. The New York real estate operating company RXR is also part of the consortium.
“It was 23 years ago that JetBlue launched our first flights from our home at JFK, eventually growing and taking over our modern Terminal 5 and now sending customers to more than 80 destinations, including London and soon Paris,” Robin Hayes, chief executive officer, JetBlue, said at the ceremony. “At a time that JetBlue is set to grow significantly, we are excited to once again invest.”
The new terminal will be about 1.2 million square feet and will be located on the airport’s north side. The airline also estimates that the project will create about 4,000 jobs, including 1,800 union construction jobs and will result in direct wages totaling about $1.9 billion.
The project will take place in two phases. The first new gates are slated to open in 2026, and construction will wrap up in 2028.
Once finished, the terminal will have capacity for 10 gates — including nine wide body gates. There will also be more than100,000 square feet of shopping and dining with an emphasis on locally based restaurateurs, craft beverage options and Taste of NY stores.
Additional highlights include state-of-the-art technology designed to improve the customer experience with touchless technology from check-in to gates and digital systems aimed at streamlining the customer journey throughout the terminal.
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