Watch Now


JFK International completes runway rehabilitation

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced the completion of a $400 million JFK Airport runway modernization project designed to help reduce delays, improve safety and increase the surface’s lifespan.

   The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has restarted flights on one of its major runways at John F. Kennedy International Airport, following the completion of a $400 million modernization project designed to help reduce delays, improve safety and increase the surface’s lifespan.
   “JFK Airport now has all four of its runways in full use for the first time since the spring,” the port authority said Monday.
   Specifically, the port authority has rehabilitated “Runway 4Left-22Right,” which stretches more than two miles in a northeast-southwest direction just south of Rockaway Boulevard to a peninsula jutting into Jamaica Bay.
   “With cooperation from our airline partners and the Federal Aviation Administration, the past six months of continuous work on Runway 4Left-22Right will prove to pay huge dividends in terms of operational safety and efficiency over the coming decades at JFK,” said Port Authority Aviation Director Thomas Bosco in a statement.
   Specifically, the runway project added a high-speed taxiway, allowing arriving planes to exit the runway quicker and helping reduce ground delays by letting other planes touch down or takeoff on the same runway with greater frequency. Another significant project aspect was lengthening the runway safety zones at each end of the landing strip to 1,000 feet to provide extra overrun areas in case of aircraft emergencies.

Chris Gillis

Located in the Washington, D.C. area, Chris Gillis primarily reports on regulatory and legislative topics that impact cross-border trade. He joined American Shipper in 1994, shortly after graduating from Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, Md., with a degree in international business and economics.