Photograph by Gottscho-Schleisner

Originally known as Idlewild Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) opened in 1942 on 1,000 acres of marshy tidelands on the site of the Idlewild golf course.

It was dedicated as New York International Airport in 1948, a month after the first commercial flights took off. In 1963, the airport was rechristened John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), after the late president.

Photograph by Gottscho-Schleisner

Now encompassing some 5,000 acres, JFK has been operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey since 1947 under a lease with New York City.

Over the years, many famous airlines have made JFK their home, including Pan Am, TWA, Eastern and National. Today, some 100 airlines from across the world operate scheduled flights out of JFK and more than 40 million passengers pass through the airport each year

JFK is the busiest airport in the Northeast, the country’s top international air passenger gateway and the leading freight gateway into the USA (by shipment value).