Blog 54: Major Airports (of the US)
Good day all and welcome back to Brooke In The Air!
This week, in preparation for my upcoming trip to Germany, we’re examining some of the United States’ top airports. Now, when you Google “top airports US” or similar. Google will give you the busiest or best airports by passenger volume. Not here, here at Brooke In The Air, we’re judging by passenger comfort, reliability, plane traffic, safety, and entertainment.
Brooke In The Air’s rankings for the Top 5 are the following: from greatest to least amazing.
SEA - Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, Seattle, WA
Aerial view of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
2. SFO - San Francisco International Airport, South San Francisco, CA
San Francisco International Airport at night
3. ATL - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, GA
ATL - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, GA
4. ORD - Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL
ORD - Chicago-O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL. View from the International Space Station (ISS)
5. EWR - Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark & Elizabeth, NJ
EWR - Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark & Elizabeth, NJ - United’s terminal
SEA Concourses from the air with Mt. Rainier in the background
SEA - Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
GEOGRAPHY
The airport is in the city of SeaTac, an outer suburb of Seattle, which was named after the airport's nickname “Sea-Tac”, and is approximately 14 miles south of Downtown Seattle and 18 miles north-northeast of Downtown Tacoma. SEA, the busiest airport in the Pacific Northwest region of North America and 4th busiest on the West Coast, is situated between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and is owned by Port of Seattle.
SIZE
The entire airport covers an area of 2,500 acres or 3.9 sq mi; and in metric, 10 km2, much smaller than other U.S. airports with similar annual passenger numbers. The airport has flights to cities throughout North America, Oceania, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. It is the primary hub for Alaska Airlines, whose corporate headquarters are near the airport, in SeaTac. SEA is also a hub and international gateway for Delta Air Lines, which has expanded at the airport since 2011. As of 2022, 31 airlines operate at SEA, serving 91 domestic (US only) and 28 international destinations around the world.
SEA, Number 1, ranked as the top airport in the US for 2023 & 2022, SEA is the crown jewel of the Pacific Northwest and Seattle's shining pride and joy, next to the Seahawks of the NFL and their so-called “12th Man”.
GROWTH
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s third runway opened on November 20, 2008, with a construction cost of $1.1 billion. Parallel to the existing two, the new runway is 2500 ft west of runway 34R, allowing landings on both in times of low visibility. The older runways are 800 ft apart, too close to allow use of both in low visibility.
In 2014, Delta Air Lines announced plans to expand Seattle into a transpacific hub. Since then, Delta has added numerous international flights and dozens of domestic flights to feed those services. Delta's increased presence in Seattle has been seen by some senior industry analysts as a proactive and aggressive response to United Airlines' major transpacific hub at San Francisco (SFO), as well as Delta's disenchantment with its former Tokyo–Narita hub.
The IAF at SEA
In 2022, the Port of Seattle completed a new 450,000-square-foot International Arrivals Facility (IAF) east of Concourse A, along with a 900-foot-long high bridge that will take passengers from the South Satellite, up 85 feet above the existing taxiway and over the top of Concourse A. The project was initially expected to be completed by 2021 at a cost of $766 million, though revised to $968 million in late 2018. The old customs and immigration facility was located in the basement of the South Satellite, and operated well over its design capacity. Additionally, the process for passengers was complicated by the satellite's isolated location. With the opening of the new IAF, Concourse A will now also be used for arriving international flights, nearly doubling the number of gates capable of serving arriving international passengers. The South Satellite Terminal is also planned to be renovated in the future.
FUTURE PLANS
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has seen record growth in passenger traffic over the last few years. That growth has been partly fueled by the nationwide expansion of Seattle-homebased Alaska Airlines and by Delta Air Lines setting up a major international hub at SEA Airport. That growth has strained the airport's facilities and led the port to invest more than $2 billion into several expansion and renovation projects.
SEA International Airport has six (6) outbound baggage handling systems with limited to no cross-connectivity. The system now in place is aging and reaching its maximum capacity. This $320.4 million project will create one unified, high-speed baggage system underneath the airport. That will allow bags to be checked from any ticketing counter, to receive security screening faster, and to be routed to any gate in the airport. The extra efficiency and speed will allow the airport to handle more baggage in the future without expanding the footprint of the baggage handling systems. The initial phase of the project was finished in 2018 and the entire system will be in place by 2023.
With estimates that the Puget Sound region will grow by another one million people by 2035, the Port of Seattle began developing the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) in 2018 to meet passenger and cargo demands. The SAMP recommends more than 30 projects to improve efficiency and airport access, including a new terminal with 19 gates and an automated people mover through three separate stations. More future projects that are in progress or will begin later are an automated parking garage guidance system, expansion of Concourse C, roadway improvements throughout the airport, Checkpoint 1 relocation, a gateway project in cooperation with Alaska Airlines, restroom renovations, Concourse A building expansion for lounges, improved curbside safety and accessibility, continued refurbishment of the Central Terminal, and a replacement of controls pertaining to the SEA Underground shuttles.
SEA has 103 gates in four concourses (A, B, C, D) and two auxiliary satellite buildings. The two satellite terminal buildings, named the North and South Satellites, are connected to the four concourses in the main terminal by a three-line automated people mover system called the “SEA Underground.” The underground transit system moves passengers within the four concourses of the central terminal and out to the two satellite terminals. All non-precleared international arrivals arrive at the South Satellite or Concourse A, regardless of their departure terminal.
The geographic site of SEA International Airport was chosen partly due to its location along State Route 99, approximately midway between Seattle and Tacoma. Interstate 5 and Interstate 405 also converge near the airport, with an easy connection to the airport via State Route 518 and the Airport Expressway. State Route 509 runs west of the airport, connecting the area to West Seattle. The airport is the largest generator of vehicle trips in the state.
Official logo of San Francisco International Airport
2. SFO - San Francisco International Airport
SFO, The #2 airport in the country, is also one of the greenest in the country and has the most built in museums. SFO is the largest airport in the San Francisco Bay Area and the second-busiest in California, after Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).
Amazing timelapse of a United Airlines 737 approaching SFO at night
The airport (SFO) is owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco and lies in a ZIP code assigned to San Francisco. However, it is located outside of San Francisco in unincorporated San Mateo County. Between 1999 and 2004, the San Francisco Airport Commission operated city-owned SFO Enterprises, Inc., to oversee its business purchases and operations of ventures.
In 2017, it was the seventh-busiest airport in the United States and the 24th-busiest in the world by passenger count. It is the fifth-largest hub for United Airlines, functioning as the airline's primary transpacific gateway, and is a major maintenance hub. It also serves as a hub for Alaska Airlines.
The airport closed following the Loma Prieta earthquake on October 17, of 1989, reopening the following morning. Minor damage to the runways was quickly repaired.
MUSEUMS
A $2.4 billion International Terminal Complex opened in December 2000, replacing Terminal 2 (known then as the International Terminal). The new International Terminal includes the San Francisco Airport Commission Aviation Museum and Library and the Louis A. Turpen Aviation Museum, as part of the SFO Museum. SFO's long-running museum exhibition program, now called SFO Museum, won unprecedented accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums in 1999.
WEATHER IMPACTS
SFO experiences delays (known as flow control) in overcast weather when only two of the airport's four runways can be used at a time because the centerlines of the parallel runway sets (01R/01L and 28R/28L) are only 750 feet (230 m) apart. Airport planners advanced proposals that would extend the airport's runways by adding up to 2 square miles (1,300 acres; 520 ha) of fill to San Francisco Bay and increase their separation by up to 4,300 feet (1,300 m) in 1998 to accommodate arrivals and departures during periods of low visibility.
The runway-weather delays during poor weather (among other reasons) caused some airlines, especially low-cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines, to shift all of their services from SFO to the Oakland and San Jose airports. However, Southwest eventually returned to San Francisco in 2007.
INNOVATION
A long-planned extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system to the airport opened on June 22, 2003, allowing passengers to board BART trains at the international or domestic terminals and have direct rail transportation to downtown San Francisco, Oakland, and the East Bay. On February 24, 2003, the AirTrain people mover opened, transporting passengers between terminals, parking lots, the BART station, and the rental car center on small automatic trains.
In response to longstanding FAA concerns that the airport's air traffic control tower, located atop Terminal 2, could not withstand a major earthquake, on July 9, 2012, crews broke ground for a new torch-shaped tower. The new tower is located between Terminals 1 and 2, and the base of the tower building contains passages between the two terminals for passengers both pre- and post-security screening, which dictated the narrow tower base.
SFO Control Tower
SFO was the first airport in the United States to integrate in-line baggage screening into its baggage handling system and has been a model for other airports since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Like all major (and minor/regional) airports, SFO sustained a massive decline in traffic in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The only upside was that the decline reduced traffic to levels easily handled in all weather conditions. In 2022, SFO was ranked no. 1 by The Wall Street Journal on its list of Best Large U.S. Airports, on which the airport was ranked no. 1 for both reliability and convenience.
TERMINALS
The airport has four terminals (1, 2, 3, and International) and seven concourses (Boarding Areas A through G) with a total of 115 gates arranged alphabetically in a counterclockwise ring. Terminal 1 (Boarding Area B), Terminal 2 (Boarding Areas C and D), and Terminal 3 (Boarding Areas E and F) handle domestic flights (including precleared flights from Canada). The International Terminal (Boarding Areas A and G) handles international flights and some domestic flights.
3. ATL - Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
INTRO & GEOGRAPHY
ATL - formerly known as the Atlanta Municipal Airport, is the primary international airport serving Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The airport is located 10 mi (16 km) south of the Downtown Atlanta district. It is named after former Atlanta mayors William B. Hartsfield and Maynard Jackson. ATL covers 4,700 acres (1,900 ha) of land and has five parallel runways. Since 1998, Hartsfield-Jackson has been the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic. In 2022, the airport had over 93.6 million passengers, the most of any airport in the world. Hartsfield–Jackson is the primary hub of Delta Air Lines. With just over 1,000 flights a day to 225 domestic and international destinations, the Delta hub is the world's largest airline hub and is considered the first mega-hub in America. In addition to hosting Delta's corporate headquarters, Hartsfield–Jackson is also the home of Delta's Technical Operations Center, which is the airline's primary maintenance, repair and overhaul arm.
Aside from Delta, Hartsfield-Jackson is also a focus city for low-cost carriers Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines. The airport has international service within North America and to Latin America, Europe, Africa, Middle East and East Asia. The airport is mostly in unincorporated areas of Clayton County, but it spills into the city limits of Atlanta, College Park, and Hapeville, in territory extending into Fulton County. The airport's domestic terminal is served by MARTA's Red and Gold rail lines.
ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES
Along with the fifth runway, a new control tower was built to see the entire runway length. The new control tower is the tallest in the United States, over 398 feet (121 m) tall. The old control tower, at 231 ft, was demolished in August 2006.
In April of 2007, an "end-around taxiway" opened, Taxiway Victor. It is expected to save an estimated $26 million to $30 million in fuel each year by allowing airplanes landing on the northernmost runway to taxi to the gate area without preventing other aircraft from taking off. The taxiway drops about 30 feet (in metric, 9.1 m) from runway elevation to allow takeoffs to continue.
Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport has two terminals and seven concourses with a total of 192 gates. The Domestic Terminal is located on the west side of the airport and the Maynard H. Jackson Jr. International Terminal is on the east side of the airport. The terminals and concourses are connected by the Transportation Mall, a pedestrian tunnel with a series of moving walkways and The Plane Train, an automated people mover. All international arrivals are processed in Concourses E and F; Concourse F is the only concourse in the airport that has a gate that can support an Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft in the world. All non-Delta international carriers operate their ATL flights from this terminal, including Delta's Skyteam partners such as Air France, KLM, Korean Air and Virgin Atlantic.
Concourse T contains 21 gates.
Concourse A contains 29 gates.
Concourse B contains 32 gates.
Concourse C contains 34 gates.
Concourse D contains 40 gates.
Concourse E contains 28 gates.
Concourse F contains 12 gates
ACCESS
The domestic terminal can be accessed directly from Interstate 85 at exit 72. The international terminal is accessed directly from Interstate 75 at exit 239. These freeways in turn connect with the following additional freeways within 10 miles: Interstate 285, Interstate 675, Georgia State Route 166, Interstate 20.
Hartsfield–Jackson has its own train station on the city's rapid transit system, MARTA, served by the Red and Gold lines. The above-ground station is inside in the main building, between the north and south domestic terminals on the west end.
4. ORD - Chicago-O'Hare International Airport
At number 4, ORD is often referred to simply as O'Hare, and is the main international airport serving Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's Northwest Side, approximately 17 miles northwest of the Loop business district. Operated by the Chicago Department of Aviation and covering 7,627 acres, O'Hare has non-stop flights to 214 destinations in North America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, and the North Atlantic region as of November 2022.
As of 2023, O'Hare is considered the world's most connected airport.
Replica of Edward “Butch” O’Hare’s F4F Wildcat, O’Hare International Airport
Designed to be the successor to Chicago's Midway International Airport, still in service, itself nicknamed the "busiest square mile in the world," O'Hare began as an airfield serving a Douglas manufacturing plant for C-54 military transports during World War II. It was renamed Orchard Field Airport in the mid-1940s and assigned the IATA code ORD. In 1949, it was renamed after aviator and WWII naval fighter ace Lieutenant Edward "Butch" O'Hare, the U.S. Navy's first Medal of Honor recipient during that war. As the first major airport planned after World War II, O'Hare's innovative design pioneered concepts now commonplace such as concourses, direct highway access to the various terminals, jet bridges, and miles of underground refueling systems.
BRIEF HISTORY
O'Hare became famous during the jet age, holding the distinction as the world's busiest airport by passenger traffic from 1963 to 1998; today, it is the world's fourth-busiest airport for passenger counts, serving 54 million passengers in 2021. On the ground, road access to the airport is offered by airport shuttle, bus, the Chicago L, or taxis by Interstate 190 (commonly known as the Kennedy Expressway), which goes directly into the airport. O'Hare is a major hub for both United Airlines (which is actually based and headquartered in Willis Tower in nearby central downtown Chicago) and lesser-ranked legacy carrier, American Airlines. As a side note, the airport is also a focus city for American ultimate/ultra low-cost carrier, Spirit Airlines.
The biggest factor driving airlines to relocate their operations from Midway to O'Hare was the jet airliner; the first scheduled jet at O'Hare was an American 707 from New York to Chicago to San Francisco on March 22, 1959. One-mile-square (1.6-kilometer-square) Midway had no space for the runways that 707s and DC-8s required. Airlines had been reluctant to move to O'Hare, but they naturally did not want to split their operations: in July 1962, the last fixed-wing scheduled airline flight in Chicago moved from Midway to O'Hare. Until United returned in July 1964, Midway's only scheduled airline was Chicago Helicopter Airways. The arrival of Midway's traffic quickly made O'Hare the world's busiest airport, serving 10 million passengers annually. Within two years, that number would double, with Chicagoans boasting that more people passed through O'Hare in 12 months than Ellis Island had processed in its entire existence. O'Hare remained the world's busiest airport until it was finally eclipsed by Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in 1998.
O'Hare had four runways in 1955; 8,000 foot (2,400 m) runway 14R/32L opened in 1956 and was extended to 11,600 feet (3,500 m) a few years later, allowing nonstops to Europe. Runway 9R/27L (now 10L/28R) opened in 1968 and runway 4R/22L in 1971.
The dominant hubs established at O'Hare in the 1980s by United and American continue to fully operate today. In fact, United actually developed a new two-concourse rebuild of Terminal 1 (dubbed "The Terminal for Tomorrow" by designers) and primarily featuring the rainbow tunnel called “The Sky’s the Limit” and connects concourses N and C.
The Sky’s the Limit
In 2018, the city and airlines committed to Phase I of a new Terminal Area Plan dubbed O'Hare 21. The plan was to build two all-new satellite concourses to the southwest of Concourse C, and to expand Terminals 2 and 5 with additional gates, lounges, and updates to operations all over the airport. (Terminal 5 has ten new gates in addition to its newly expanded facilities, plus two additional gates to each accommodate an Airbus A380.) The expansion will enable same-terminal transfers between international and domestic flights, faster connections, improved facilities and technology for TSA and customs inspections and much larger landside amenities such as shopping and restaurants. A principal feature of the plan is the reorganization of the terminal core into an "alliance hub," the first in North America; airside connections and layout will be optimized around airline alliances. This will be made possible by the construction of the O'Hare Global Terminal (OGT) where Terminal 2 currently stands. The OGT and two new satellite concourses will allow for expansion for both American's and United's international operations as well as easy interchange with their respective Oneworld (American) and Star Alliance (United) partner carriers, eliminating the need to transfer to Terminal 5.
T1 United Airlines Departure Hall at ORD
American Airlines’ T3 Departure Hall at ORD
TERMINALS
O'Hare has four numbered passenger terminals with nine lettered concourses and a total of 213 gates.
Terminal 1 is used for United Airlines flights, as well as international departures by Lufthansa and All Nippon Airways. It contains 52 gates on two concourses, lettered B–C.
Terminal 2 is used for most United Express and some mainline United flights, as well as all Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, and JetBlue flights. It contains 41 gates on two concourses, lettered E–F.
Terminal 3 is used for American Airlines and Spirit Airlines flights, as well as international departures by Iberia and Japan Airlines. It contains 80 gates on four concourses, lettered G, H, K, and L.
Terminal 5 is used for Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines flights, as well as all international airlines save for a limited number that depart from Terminals 1–3. Terminal 5 is also used for non pre–cleared international arrivals, as T5 currently contains the airport's sole U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility. It contains 40 gates on a single concourse, lettered M.
Terminals 1–3 are interconnected airside via a walkway.
Terminal 5 is separated from the other terminals by a set of taxiways that cross over the airport's access road, requiring most passengers to exit security, ride a shuttle bus or take the Airport Transit System and then re–clear security, an annoying inconvenience. An additional shuttle bus provides an airside connection from Terminals 1 and 3 to Terminal 5, operating every 15 minutes from 11:30 am to 9:30 pm.
RUNWAY OPERATIONS
O'Hare has two sets of parallel runways, one on either side of the terminal complex. Each airfield has three parallel east–west runways (9L/27R, 9C/27C, and 9R/27L on the north side; 10L/28R, 10C/28C, and 10R/28L on the south side) and a crosswind runway oriented northeast–southwest (4L/22R on the north, 4R/22L on the south). The north crosswind runway, 4L/22R, sees limited usage due to intersecting 9R/27L and 9C/27C; however, runway 22L is often used for takeoffs during what is called "west flow" on the main runways. The airfield is managed by three FAA air traffic control towers. O'Hare has a voluntary nighttime noise abatement program. Currently, O'Hare has the most runways of any civilian airport in the world, totaling eight.
ONSITE HOTEL
The Hilton Chicago O'Hare is between the terminal core and parking garage and is currently the only hotel on airport property. It is owned by the Chicago Department of Aviation and operated under an agreement with Hilton Hotels, who extended their agreement with the city by ten years in 2018, to 2028.
5. EWR - Newark Liberty International Airport
INTRO
View of the Manhattan cityscape from Newark’s United Terminal 1
Originally known simply as Newark Metropolitan Airport, and later Newark International Airport (or simply “Newark Airport”), is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union County, New Jersey. Located about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of downtown Newark and 9 miles (14 km) west-southwest of Manhattan in New York City, it is a major gateway to points in Europe, South America, Asia, and Oceania. It is jointly owned by the cities and leased to its operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It is the second-busiest airport in the New York airport system behind John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) but far ahead of the primary domestic hub of LaGuardia Airport (LGA).
GEOGRAPHY
The airport is near the Newark Airport Interchange, the junction between Interstate 95 and Interstate 78, both of which are components of the New Jersey Turnpike, and U.S. Routes 1 and 9, which has junctions with U.S. Route 22, Route 81, and Route 21. AirTrain Newark connects the terminals with the Newark Liberty International Airport Station. The station is served by NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor Line and North Jersey Coast Line. Amtrak's Northeast Regional and Keystone Service trains also stop at the station.
The City of Newark built the airport on 68 acres of marshland in late 1928, and the Army Air Corps proceeded to operate the facility during World War II as it became a depot for training Air Corps pilots. The airport was constructed adjacent to Port Newark and U.S. Route 1. After the Port Authority took it over in 1948, an instrument runway, a terminal building, a control tower, and an air cargo center were added. The airport's Building 1 from 1935 is a National Historic Landmark.
Unlike the other two major New York–area airports, JFK and LaGuardia, which are located directly next to large bodies of water (Jamaica Bay and the East River, respectively) and whose runways extend at least partially out into them, Newark Airport and its runways are completely land-locked. While located just across Interstate 95 from Newark Bay and not far from the Hudson River, the airport does not directly front upon either body of water.
TRAFFIC
During the last year, the airport served 43.4 million passengers, which made it the 13th-busiest airport in the nation and the 23rd-busiest airport in the world. The busiest year to date was 2019 when it served 46.3 million passengers.
Newark serves 50 carriers and is the largest hub for United Airlines by available seat miles as well as United's primary Atlantic gateway. The airline serves about 63% of passengers at EWR making it the largest tenant at the airport. United and FedEx Express, its second-largest tenant, operate together in three buildings on a total of 2 million square feet of airport property.
ACQUISITIONS
When People Express merged into Continental Airlines in 1987, operations (including corporate office operations) at the North Terminal were reduced and the building was demolished to make way for cargo facilities in the early 1997. This merger started the dominance of Continental Airlines, and later when Continental Airlines merged with United Airlines, the sheer dominance of United Airlines at Newark Airport (EWR).
On July 22, 1981, a railroad tank car carrying ethylene oxide caught fire at the freight yard in Port Newark, causing the evacuation of a one-mile radius including an evacuation of the North Terminal building of the airport.
In late 1996, the airport's monorail system opened, connecting the three terminals, the overflow parking lots and garages, and the rental car facilities. A new International Arrivals Facility also opened in Terminal B that year. The monorail was expanded to the new Newark Airport train station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor line in 2001 and was renamed AirTrain Newark.
SEPTEMBER 11 EFFECTS
United Memorial to gate A17, where hijackers of Flight 93 boarded on September 11, 2001
After the hijacking and subsequent crash of United Airlines Flight 93 in the September 11 attacks in 2001 while en route from Newark to San Francisco, the airport's name was changed from Newark International Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport in 2002. This name was chosen over the initial proposal, Liberty International Airport at Newark, and pays tribute to the victims of the September 11 attacks and to the landmark Statue of Liberty, lying 7 miles east of the airport.
INTERNATIONAL EXPLOSION TRAFFIC
In October 2015, Singapore Airlines announced intentions to resume direct nonstop service between Newark and its main hub at Singapore Changi Airport, which had ended in November 2013. The airline announced that service would resume some time in 2018, and the Airbus A350-900ULR was chosen as the aircraft for the route.
On May 30, 2018, Singapore Airlines officially announced that nonstop service between Newark and Singapore would begin on October 11, 2018, and Newark Liberty once again became host to what was then the world's longest non-stop flight.
Continental Airlines, by now (2010) merged with United Airlines, began flying from Newark to Beijing-Capital on June 15, 2005, and to Delhi on November 1, 2005. The airline soon started flights to Mumbai. On July 16, 2007, Continental announced it would seek government approval for nonstop flights between Newark and Shanghai-Pudong in 2009, but this was negated by the Continental-United merger in 2010.
Continental began flights to Shanghai from Newark on March 25, 2009, using a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, now United operates these Shanghai flights with a Boeing 777-300ER, and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Newark was the only New York area airport used by Philippine Airlines (PAL) until financial problems in the late 1990s caused the airline to terminate this service.
RUNWAY AND HELIPAD OPERATIONS
The airport covers 2,027 acres and has three runways and one helipad:
4L/22R: 3,353 m × 46 m, asphalt/concrete, grooved
4R/22L: 3,048 m × 46 m, asphalt, grooved
11/29: 2,050 m × 46 m, asphalt, grooved
Helipad H1: 16 m × 16 m, asphalt
The airport has more than 12 miles of 75-foot-wide taxiways. In 2014, the Port Authority completed a $97 million rehabilitation project of Runway 4L/22R while adding four new taxiways to reduce delays. Three of the new taxiways allow multiple planes to stage for departure at the end of the runway, reducing takeoff delays, while the other new taxiway will allow arriving planes to exit the runway faster and get to the gates quicker.
All approaches except Runway 29 have Instrument Landing Systems and Runway 4R is certified for Category III approaches. Runway 22L had been upgraded to CAT III approach capability.
CAT II approaches differ from CAT III approaches in that, CAT II requires some elements of visual acuity and Visual Flight Rules (VFR) whereas CAT III operates under the assumption that the airport and runways are weather obstructed and pilots should land under IFR, or, Instrument Flight Rules, only.
Runway 4L/22R is primarily used for takeoffs while 4R/22L is primarily used for landings, and 11/29 is used by smaller aircraft or when there are strong crosswinds on the two main runways. Newark's parallel runways (4L and 4R) are 950 feet (290 m) apart, the fourth smallest separation of major airports in the U.S., after San Francisco International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.
Helipad H1 is used exclusively by Blade, a helicopter service that goes to EWR and JFK from their heliport on East 34th street in New York City with the express and sole purpose of going to and from the airport in under 5 minutes. Blade uses the Bell 407 helicopter.
Newark’s Check in area for Terminal 1.
TERMINALS
Across the airport's three terminals, there are 125 gates: Terminal A has 33 gates, Terminal B has 24 gates, and Terminal C has 68 gates.
Gate numbering starts in Terminal A with Gate A1 and ends in Terminal C at C138. Wayfinding signage throughout the terminals was designed by Paul Mijksenaar, who also designed signage for LaGuardia and JFK Airports.
The new Terminal A has four levels: the departures level, the mezzanine level for offices, the arrivals level, and the ground floor, where baggage claim is located. The terminal is operated as EWR Terminal One LLC by Munich Airport International, a subsidiary of Munich Airport, which manages the terminal's operations, maintenance, and concessions in the 1 million square feet of retail space. The redevelopment also comes with plans to replace the existing AirTrain monorail system, scheduled to open in 2024, and was not opened along with the new Terminal A.
