Port Authority Airports See Record Passengers in Q1 2024

On Apr 26, 2024

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced that the agency’s commercial airports welcomed a record 32.4 million passengers in the first quarter of 2024. Last month also marked the second-busiest March on record for the agency’s commercial airports. The Port of New York and New Jersey exceeded two million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) handled during the first three months of the year, a 12% increase from the same period last year. Traffic at the agency’s vehicular crossings continued to hit strong pre-COVID levels, and PATH commuter rail saw ridership increases that outpaced the first quarter of 2023 by 12%, carrying ridership at 66% of pre-COVID levels.

Airports:

A record 32.4 million passengers were welcomed across the agency’s commercial airports in the first quarter of 2024. This was an increase of more than 440,000 passengers compared to the same period in 2023, which had been the busiest year ever at Port Authority airports.

Just over 12 million passengers were served across the agency’s airports in March 2024. This marked the agency’s second-busiest March ever. It was a decrease of about 68,000 passengers compared to March 2023. March 2024’s total was an increase of more than 340,000 passengers from pre-pandemic March 2019. International passenger volume increased 9% compared to March 2023 as travelers flocked to Europe, Asia and South America.

March 2024’s passenger volume increased 21% compared to February 2024, marking the seasonal ramp up in demand around spring break travel.

Port of New York and New Jersey:

The Port of New York and New Jersey was the second-busiest cargo port in the nation during March 2024. It handled 701,648 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) through the month. The total was a 22% jump from March 2023, and a 20% increase from March 2019. It marked the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year volume growth for the port.

Those numbers contributed to a strong start to the year, surpassing 2 million TEUs as the port moved a total of 2,001,449 TEUs by the end of the first quarter. This was a 12% increase from the same period in both 2023 and pre-pandemic 2019.

The port was also the nation’s second busiest for loaded TEUs, handling 471,193 loaded TEUs in March 2024. This was a 9% increase from February 2024, as manufacturing restarted overseas following the Lunar New Year holiday.

Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals:

The agency’s six vehicular crossings recorded 10.1 million eastbound crossings in March 2024. This was on par with strong activity seen in both pre-pandemic March 2019 and March 2023. Average daily traffic volumes increased by about 10,000 vehicles from February 2024 to March 2024.

Over the first three months of the year, traffic volumes were on par with 2023 and 2% higher than 2019.

PATH Commuter Rail:

March 2024’s average weekday ridership on the PATH commuter rail was 177,646 passengers. This was a 14% increase from March 2023. It was also a 4% increase from February 2024, but still remained at 66% of pre-COVID levels. Sunday ridership, however, surged to surpass pre-COVID Sunday ridership for the third time since the start of COVID and also jumped 17% over February 2024.

The system welcomed 4.5 million passengers through March 2024. The total was a 9% jump from March 2023. March 2024’s total ridership was also a 10% increase from the prior month. It was 67% of March 2019’s total.

Through the first quarter of the year, PATH’s total ridership of 12.7 million passengers outpaced ridership during the same period in 2023 by 12%.

To access more business news, visit NJB News Now.

Related Articles: