The Kennedy Airport Rehabilitation Plan unveiled, with a $ 13 billion price tag

The sketches showed new roads, aircraft taxiways, gates and vast bright terminals, full of shops, restaurants and tree-lined bars, plants and works of art. art.

"JFK will become a destination in itself," Cotton said, rather than what he called the "catastrophic" passenger experience. Construction is expected to begin in 2020 and end in 2025.

This announcement marks more than a year of competition between airlines, terminal operators, developers and private equity firms competing for land in one of the busiest airports in the country.

The Port Authority, which operates JFK as well as LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International airports, has earmarked one billion dollars for development. The private sector is committed to providing the remaining $ 12 billion.

Every year, JFK breaks passenger records. This year, it is expected to exceed 60 million people and reach 80 million by 2035.

Although the port authority manages the airport, its six terminals are each managed by separate airlines or terminal operators.

As a result, JFK is notorious for its lack of communication or cooperation between partners. The balkanized configuration also requires many transferred passengers to retrieve their luggage before transferring them to another terminal where they must register again.

Last year, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled a $ 10 billion vision to unify JFK. The plans published Thursday go in this direction.

Once the projects are completed, the six JFK terminals will be reduced to four, with a new Kennedy Central hub installed in the center of the complex. Mr. Cotton said the center could be used for transit connections, shopping or perhaps a cultural space.

On the south side of the airport, terminals 1, 2 and the site of the former Terminal 3 will be replaced by a new terminal worth $ 7 billion. The new terminal, which will be operated by the current operators of Terminal 1, will be connected to Terminal 4 so that passengers do not need to go out.

"I'm delighted with my spirit," said Arthur Molins, General Manager of Terminal One Group Association, a consortium of four airlines,

Air France-KLM
HER,

Deutsche Lufthansa
AG

,

Japan Airlines
Co.

, and

Korean Air Lines
Co.

Terminal financing is provided by a private equity firm

Carlyle Group

LP.

The choice of this plan by the port authority is a blow to JFKIAT, the operator of Terminal 4, who had proposed its own expansion on a similar footprint. In an interview with Mr. Cotton, Mr. Cotton said that new developments at the airport were still under discussion, suggesting the possibility of a more limited terminal 4 expansion.

JFKIAT is a joint venture led by the Dutch group Royal Schiphol, with

Delta Airlines
Inc.

as a minority stakeholder. Roel Huinink, general manager of JFKIAT, said in a statement that the company was looking forward to "continuing the partnership" with the port authority.

North of the airport,

JetBlue Airways
Corp

oration will triple its presence, moving from its Terminal 5 headquarters to a new $ 3 billion terminal on the former Terminal 6 site, and then to the current Terminal 7. This plan is funded by a joint venture of the management. Canadian airport company Vantage Airport Group and New York developer RXR Realty.

Promoters of the new terminals will also provide $ 2 billion for improvements to JFK's road, parking and transit links.

"This is a great benefit for the entire program," said Derek Utter, director of development for the Port Authority, who said that with a billion dollar stake, the agency had generated 12 billion dollars. additional billions of investments.

Write to Paul Berger at [email protected]