USA. The JFK Millennium Partners consortium has said that construction on the new Terminal 6 at New York John F. Kennedy International Airport will begin early next year, with the first gates to open in 2026 and completion by 2028.
It follows the financial close yesterday of the US$4.2 billion deal to develop the location. JFK Millennium Partners is a partnership between developer Vantage Airport Group, investor and developer American Triple I, real estate company RXR and JetBlue Airways.
Approved in August 2021 by the Port Authority Board of Commissioners, the new Terminal 6 will feature a 1.2 million square foot terminal, with more than 100,000sq ft of dining and shopping, airline lounge and recreational space.
It will be built on the sites of the former Terminal 6, which was demolished in 2011, and Terminal 7, which will be rebuilt after anchor airline British Airways relocated to Terminal 8 this week.
Nine of the ten new gates will be wide-body gates to accommodate the larger craft ordered by many major air carriers over the next few years. Custom art installations will be highlighted by bright and airy check-in halls and arrival spaces, and the terminal will be designed with sustainability in mind.
“The financial close on a new Terminal 6 allows us to move forward with the final piece of our plan to transform JFK International Airport into one of the world’s great global gateways,” said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton. “The US$4.2 billion private investment in Terminal 6 by JFK Millennium Partners is a vote of confidence in our vision for a new JFK and in the future of our region.”
“Today’s milestone is the result of significant, dedicated efforts of the Vantage team to lead this complex project and bring the shared objectives of JFK Millennium Partners and our other project partners to life at Terminal 6,” said George Casey, Chair and CEO, Vantage, and Board Chair at JFK Millennium Partners.
“We are delighted to mark today’s financial close milestone of the project to create a new, world-class Terminal 6 anchoring the north side of JFK,” said JFK Millennium Partners CEO Helena Williams. “Working with our partners at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Vantage, ATI, RXR, and JetBlue, we are ready to bring an unprecedented level of economic activity to southeast Queens, with construction jobs and opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses as we build a state-of-the-art terminal at one of the nation’s most important international gateway airports.”
Vantage is the principal developer and operator of the new terminal, with Corsair Infrastructure, the global infrastructure investment business of Corsair Capital and Vantage’s shareholder, serving as the project’s principal financial sponsor.
Vantage will lead the construction in two phases, managing both the existing Terminal 7 until its demolition in 2025, and the new international Terminal 6 from completion through 2060 via a long-term lease with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
The redevelopment will include enhanced airside aircraft circulation and critical infrastructure improvements to related roadways, which should optimise airport traffic flow and maximise connectivity across the facility. The new Terminal 6 will also connect to JetBlue’s existing Terminal 5.
Terminal 6 will be Vantage and Corsair’s second airport terminal development project in the New York market after their completion of LaGuardia Airport Terminal B.
