John F. Kennedy International Airport
international airport in New York, United States
John F. Kennedy International Airport (IATA: JFK, ICAO: KJFK, FAA LID: JFK) is the primary international airport serving the New York metropolitan area. It is located on the southwestern shore of Long Island, in Queens, New York City, bordering Jamaica Bay. It is the busiest of the three airports in the New York airport system, the sixth-busiest airport in the United States. The airport, which covers 5,200 acres (2,104 ha), is the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Nearly 100 airlines operate from JFK Airport, with nonstop or direct flights to destinations on all six permanently inhabited continents.
JFK Airport is located in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, 16 miles (26 km) southeast of Midtown Manhattan. The airport features five passenger terminals and four runways. It is primarily accessible by car, bus, shuttle, or other vehicular transit via the JFK Expressway or Interstate 678 (Van Wyck Expressway), or by train. JFK is a hub for American Airlines and Delta Air Lines as well as the primary operating base for JetBlue. The airport is also a former hub for Braniff, Eastern, Flying Tigers, National, Northeast, Northwest, Pan Am, Seaboard World, Tower Air, and TWA.
The facility opened in 1948 as New York International Airport and was commonly known as Idlewild Airport.
The public source identifies “John F. Kennedy International Airport” as international airport in New York, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around John, Kennedy and International.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “John F. Kennedy International Airport”, the useful work is to connect “international airport in New York, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q8685. VIAF identifies the subject as 158285112. The Library of Congress control number is n81063034. Authority coordinates are 40.640, -73.780. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1948.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “John F. Kennedy International Airport”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow John F. Kennedy International Airport primary sources, John F. Kennedy International Airport archive and John research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “John F. Kennedy International Airport” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.