Passenger volumes at Port Authority airports take off with busiest first half of year

• Port of New York and New Jersey is the second busiest in the nation for loaded cargo over the first half of 2024, moving over 2.8 million loaded TEUs
• Bridges and tunnels continue to achieve strong pre-pandemic volumes for vehicular traffic
  
• PATH Commuter rail continues steady recovery, hits post-pandemic high of 70% of pre-covid levels
  

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey today announced that the agency’s commercial airports soared to new heights over the first half of 2024, recording their busiest January-June first half ever. The period was capped by the busiest June on record for the region’s commercial airports. The Port of New York and New Jersey cemented its status as the nation’s second-busiest container port for loaded imports and exports, moving over 2.8 million loaded TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in the first six months of the year, while traffic at the Port Authority’s vehicular crossings achieved strong volumes seen in prior years. The PATH commuter rail continued its steady recovery, hitting a post-pandemic high of 70 percent of pre-pandemic ridership levels.

Airports:

The Port Authority’s commercial airports recorded their busiest first half ever during the first six months of 2024. The agency’s commercial airports welcomed 70.6 million passengers from January through June. This was an increase of over 972,000 passengers from the same period in 2023.

A record 13 million passengers were welcomed at the region’s commercial airports in June. This surpassed the previous June high set in 2018 by about 313,000 passengers. It was an increase of about 482,000 passengers from June 2023.

International travel has driven much of the surge in passenger volume. International passenger volume grew 7 percent from June 2023 to June 2024. It increased 8 percent from the first half of 2023 to the same period in 2024. The most popular foreign destinations in June included Rome, Munich and London.

Port of New York and New Jersey:

The Port of New York and New Jersey handled 708,977 TEUs in June 2024. This marked the port’s fourth consecutive month surpassing 700,000 TEUs, as well as its seventh consecutive month of year-over-year growth. June 2024’s total was a 14 percent increase from June 2023 and a 16 percent jump from June 2019.

Over the first six months of 2024, the Port of New York and New Jersey handled 4,210,657 TEUs. This total represented a 13 percent jump over the same period in 2023. The first half of 2024 also marked a 15 percent increase compared to the first half of 2019. It was the second busiest container port in the nation for loaded cargo over the first half of the year, handling 2,841,623 loaded TEUs.

Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals:

About 10.6 million eastbound vehicles used the Port Authority’s six vehicular crossings in June 2024. Vehicular volume continued to meet or exceed benchmarks from June 2023 and June 2019. Average daily traffic volume increased about 3 percent from May to June.

Approximately 59.8 million eastbound vehicles used the crossings over the first six months of the year. The total was on par with strong volumes seen over the same periods in 2023 and 2019.

PATH Commuter Rail:

In June 2024, the PATH commuter rail recorded its highest average weekday ridership for any month since the onset of the pandemic. The system served an average of 193,163 weekday passengers in June. This was an increase of about 500 passengers per weekday over the previous record set in May. It was a 17 percent increase over the average weekday ridership in June 2023.

June also included a new one-day post-pandemic ridership record. The system served 237,038 passengers on Tuesday, June 18. This was an increase of about 3,300 passengers from the system’s previous one-day post-pandemic record set on May 22, 2024.

The PATH commuter rail served about 4.8 million passengers in June 2024. This was the third-highest monthly total since the onset of the pandemic. The figure was a 12 percent jump from June 2023 and was 70 percent of the total from June 2019.

From January through June, the PATH commuter rail served approximately 27.3 million passengers. This marked a 13 percent jump from the same period in 2023. It was 67 percent of the first half tally in 2019.