# 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

At four in the morning the cargo city on JFK's north side is wide awake: trucks docking at pharma facilities, fish from Tokyo clearing customs, flowers from Bogotá heading for Manhattan. New York JFK handled 1.67 million tonnes of air freight in 2024, up five percent on 2023 and a quarter above 2019, making it the eighth-busiest US cargo airport and 21st worldwide. 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. In February 2025 a 270-million-dollar cargo facility from Realterm and Worldwide Flight Services opened, consolidating four older cargo zones into 350,000 square feet 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, next to the seaport. For pharma and perishables bound for the US Northeast, though, 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*