page_title: John F. Kennedy International Airport
section_title: Operational facilities
hierarchical_section_title: John F. Kennedy International Airport / Facilities / Operational facilities
caption_attribution_description: English: JFK airport- February 2017 Español: Aeropuerto John F. Kennedy (JFK) -Febrero 2017
context_page_description: John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport in Queens, New York, USA. It is the primary international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest international air passenger gateway into North America, the 21st-busiest airport in the world, the sixth-busiest airport in the United States, and the busiest airport in the New York airport system, having handled over 62.5 million passengers in 2019. More than ninety airlines operate from the airport, with nonstop or direct flights to destinations in all six inhabited continents.
  JFK is located in the Jamaica neighborhood of New York City's Queens borough, 16 miles southeast of Midtown Manhattan. The airport features six passenger terminals and four runways. JFK is one of only three airports in the United States, with Chicago-O'Hare and Los Angeles International, that is used as hub for more than one of the three U.S. mainline carriers. JFK is a hub for both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, and it is the primary operating base for JetBlue. JFK was also formerly a hub for Pan Am, TWA, Eastern, National, and Tower Air.
context_section_description: JFK has over 25 miles (40 km) of taxiways to move aircraft in and around the airfield. The standard width of these taxiways is 75 feet (23 m), with 25 feet (7.6 m) heavy-duty shoulders and 25-foot (7.6 m) erosion control pavements on each side. The taxiways have centerline lights and are generally of asphalt concrete composition 15 to 18 inches (380 to 460 mm) thick. An illuminated sign system provides directional information for taxiing aircraft.
  The Air Traffic Control Tower, designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and constructed on the ramp-side of Terminal 4, began full FAA operations in October 1994. An Airport Surface Detection Equipment (ASDE) radar unit sits atop the tower. A gas-fired electric cogeneration plant generates electricity for the airport, with an output of about 90 megawatts (120,000 hp). It uses thermal energy from the capture of waste heat to heat and cool all of the passenger terminals and other facilities in the central terminal area. At the time of its completion, the JFK tower, at 320 feet (98 m), was the world's tallest control tower. It was subsequently displaced from that position by towers at other airports in both the United States and overseas, including those at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, currently the tallest tower at any U.S. airport, at 398 feet (121 m) and at KLIA2 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, currently the world's tallest control tower at 438 feet (134 m).
  Aircraft service facilities include seven aircraft hangars, an engine overhaul building, a 32-million-US-gallon (120,000 m³) aircraft fuel storage facility and a truck garage.
  In the last few years, improvements have been made to terminals, roadways and inter-terminal transportation.
caption: JFK airport- February 2017
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