New York’s JFK Airport isn’t anybody’s favourite place to fly into – or out of, for that matter. But there’s a bold plan to change all that, as long as the necessary US$10 billion can be scraped together.
NY governor Andrew Cuomo says the sweeping makeover would transform one of America’s busiest airports into “a unified, interconnected, world-class complex… and turn (JFK) into the 21st century airport that we deserve.”
First up: bringing together the airport’s separate terminals into “a unified terminal” for a much faster and easier flow of passengers.
Roadways leading to the airport would also be widened to reduce congestion and feed into a ring road which would completely encircle the mega-terminal, which would include expanded parking areas.
The JFK superhub would help cope with a continually growing passenger base which is expected to reach 75 million people per year by 2030 and soothe their travel-furrowed brows with new fine dining venues, duty-free and retail shopping areas plus meeting room facilities.
Cuomo is pitching for US$7 billion of the total bill to come from the private sector.
But even if all this becomes just a flight of fancy, at least we can look forward to the iconic but abandoned TWA terminal being reborn as a chic airport hotel.
The TWA Flight Centre Hotel will preserve the futuristic Eero Saarinen terminal, which will become the lobby of the new-build 505 room hotel. The privately-funded redevelopment will include conference, event and meeting space as well as a 930m2 (10,000ft2) public observation deck.
Photo gallery: inside New York's futuristic TWA terminal at JFK
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.