Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Expects Airport Numbers to Soar

March 2, 2004

PA Expects Airport Numbers to Soar 
New York Daily News, NY 

 
The Port Authority expects that Queens' two airports
will regain pre-9/11 passenger volumes late next year,
the agency's chief economist said.
Though all three area airports are looking good, "the
news is much better for JFK," said Gene Spruck, chief
economist for the Port Authority, which operates John
F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in Queens as well as
Newark Airport in New Jersey.

"We expect JFK to reach almost 34 million passengers
by the end of 2004, and that will bring JFK above its
2000 peak volume," said Spruck.

Domestic growth was the real driver of what was
happening at JFK, the PA economist said, with domestic
volume now exceeding international travel for the
first time since 1984.

The success of JetBlue with headquarters in Forest
Hills is a major reason for the increase in domestic
passengers at Kennedy Airport.

LaGuardia is expected to grow by about 3% this year,
to 23.2 million passengers, Spruck said. Last year, it
handled 22.5 million passengers, an increase of 2.2%.

"The continued growth in the U.S. economy, combined
with improving corporate profits, should lead to an
increase in business travel and that should bode well
for the performance of LaGuardia this year and
beyond," Spruck said.

The importance of air cargo for the economy of Queens
and the region cannot be overlooked, he told his
audience last week at an economic forum on the outlook
for Queens' economy at the CitiBank Building in Long
Island City.

For example, he said, there are more than 5,100
freight forwarders and customs house brokers working
in Queens and another 5,000 people employed in air
courier services.

"Last year, this region including JFK and Newark
handled $125 billion of international air cargo. That
was up 3.1% from 2002," Spruck said.

One out of every four dollars of U.S. international
cargo moved through the region, he said. 

Including domestic cargo, JFK handled 1.7 million tons
of cargo last year, an increase of 2.6% over 2002.

Spruck made the predications in front of some 200
Queens business leaders who attended the meeting,
which was sponsored by the Queens Economic Development
Corp. and Long Island City Business Development Corp. 

 

 Do you have an opinion about this story?
Share it with other readers in our CAA Discussion Forums

http://www.californiaaviation.org/dc/dcboard.php

*****************************************