John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in Queens, in southeastern New York City and about 12 miles (19 km) from Lower Manhattan. Originally known as the Idlewild Airport , it was renamed in 1963 in memory of the late President John F. Kennedy. It is colloquially referred to simply as "Kennedy" or "JFK".
JFK airport is the newest and busiest of the New York metropolitan area's three primary commercial airports. It is the top international air passenger gateway to the United States and is also the leading freight gateway to the country by value of shipments. The airport is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages four other airports in the New York metropolitan area, Newark Liberty, LaGuardia, Stewart International Airport (SWF) and Teterboro. It is the base of operations for JetBlue Airways and is also a major international gateway hub for Delta Air Lines and American Airlines.
The five largest airlines at JFK in market share are JetBlue Airways (27.3%), Delta Airlines/Connection (18.6%), American Airlines (18.5%), British Airways (2.8%), and United Airlines (1.9%).
JFK's outbound international travel accounted for 17% of all U.S. travelers who went overseas in 2004, the largest share of any U.S. airport. In 2000, JFK handled an average of about 50,000 international passengers each day. The JFK-London Heathrow route is the leading U.S. international airport pair with over 2.9 million passengers in 2000. Other top international destinations from JFK are Paris, Frankfurt, and Tokyo. Nearly 100 airlines from over 50 countries operate regularly scheduled flights from JFK. Although JFK is known for its historical role as an international gateway airport for the United States, it also handles a large number of domestic flights. In 2007 the airport handled 48.9 million passengers; Newark Liberty International Airport handled about 37.3 million and LaGuardia Airport about 25.3 million, making for a total of approximately 111 million travelers using New York's airports, making New York the busiest airport system in the United states in terms of passenger numbers.
