# John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK)

> New York, US · IATA: JFK · ICAO: KJFK · Large Airport · Cargo Hub

## Quick Facts

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| IATA | `JFK` |
| ICAO | `KJFK` |
| City | New York |
| Country | US |
| Type | Large Airport |
| Elevation | 4 m |
| Cargo | ✅ |
| GPS | 40.63945, -73.77932 |

## Description

JFK handled a record 1.68 million tonnes of air cargo in 2024; volumes settled at roughly 1.56 million tonnes in 2025, still the airport's second-best year on record. That keeps JFK among the busiest cargo airports in the country. Opened in 1948 as Idlewild, the Queens airport pairs intercontinental belly capacity with freighter service from Korean Air Cargo, Cargolux, Lufthansa Cargo, China Airlines, Atlas Air and Kalitta. Its specialty is value rather than volume: certified pharma cool chains, perishables, high-value goods and art shipments for Manhattan's auction houses. A 145-million-dollar cargo facility from Realterm and Worldwide Flight Services opened on a 26-acre site in late 2024, followed by its formal $270 million ribbon-cutting in February 2025, consolidating four older cargo zones and lifting capacity by around a quarter. From September 2025 Swissport runs Cargo Building 9 for Korean Air, expanding it to 295,500 tonnes a year and adding JFK's first on-airport pharma and perishables terminal. US Customs (CBP) clears around the clock. Ground access stays the weak link – the Van Wyck Expressway is chronically jammed, so some regional freight deliberately routes via Newark. For pharma and perishables bound for the US Northeast, there is still no way around Jamaica Bay.

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*Freight Academy — Airport Profile: [https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/john-f-kennedy-international-airport-jfk](https://www.freight-academy.com/en/information/airports/john-f-kennedy-international-airport-jfk)*

*Markdown mirror: [https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/john-f-kennedy-international-airport-jfk](https://www.freight-academy.com/api/md/airports/en/john-f-kennedy-international-airport-jfk)*

*LLM-Summary (JSON): https://www.freight-academy.com/api/v1/airports/john-f-kennedy-international-airport-jfk/llm-summary*