John F. Kennedy International Airport

John F. Kennedy International Airport, or JFK, is located in New York City, USA. It is operated and overseen by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The construction of this well known airport, started in the April of 1942, on the location of the Idlewild Golf Course. To be able to construct stable buildings on the marshy lands of the golf course, contractors had to place hydraulic fill over the construction site. The John F. Kennedy Airport was planned to be approximately 1 000 acres in size, but over the years, through additions and the need to expand, it has grown to almost 6 000 acres. The airport was named the New York International Airport on 31 July 1945, but on 24 December 1963 the airport was dedicated and renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport. The Kennedy International Airport employs approximately 35 000 staff, but it also contributes to the economy of New York and New Jersey, thus creating approximately 265 000 jobs in the city and metropolitan regions.

The Central Terminal Area, or also known as the CTA, is made up of eight terminals that are clearly numbered. Originally, the CTA was 655 acres in size, but has expanded to 880 acres. The Central Terminal Area is surrounded by taxiways. Color-coded signs have been erected from the entrance of the airport to the relevant parking areas to assist passengers to reach the correct terminal. The Central Terminal Area is linked to Long Island Railroad by the Light Rail Transit System and includes the New York bus system, and the New York subway system.

Terminal 1 is home to Korean Air, Air France, Japan Airlines and Lufthansa. It covers a 684 000 square foot area and has various restaurants and retail shops and has eleven aircraft gates. In the years 1962 and in 1960, Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 were constructed for Delta Air Lines. Terminal 4 was constructed and opened in 2001. The new terminal improved customer service greatly, with retail shops, bistros and separate levels for arriving and departing passengers. Terminal 5 is the home of JetBlue Airways, and is also referred to as the TWA Flight Center. Terminal 7 has been occupied by British Airways since 1970, and covers a 350 000 square foot area of the airport, twelve passenger gates and includes a parking area. In 1960, Terminal 8 became home to American Airlines.

JFK Airport has 4 runways, and 4 helipads. Each runway has a center line, lighting along the edges, has grooves in the tar to increase the safety of the runway and has lights that direct the crafts to the taxiway exits. Each runway is specially equipped and constructed to accommodate the aircraft that make use of the runways. Kennedy International Airport handles approximately 470 000 aircraft, 47 000 000 passengers, 1 750 000 tons of cargo and 85 000 tons of mail in a year. This is one of the biggest and busiest airports in the world. It therefore provides passengers with car rental facilities, restaurants, cocktail bars, barbers, banks, ATMs, gift shops and many other facilities, to ensure passenger needs are met.