Soaring to New Heights: The Growing Airports of the Mid-Atlantic

John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York, NY
Image courtesy allairports.net

According to the FAA's report on the busiest airports in the US (by total passenger boardings) for 2012, eight of the 50 busiest airports in the nation are located in the Mid-Atlantic. Of these eight airports, three are in the New York metropolitan area, three are in the Baltimore-Washington metro area, one is in the Philadelphia metro area, and one is in the Pittsburgh metro area. The busiest American airport in 2012 was once again Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport with 45,798,809 enplanements. The busiest airport in the Mid-Atlantic (and 6th busiest nationally) was New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Rank	Airport Name	City	'12 Boardings	'11 Boardings	% Change
6	John F Kennedy International (JFK)	New York, NY	24,520,981	23,664,832	3.62%
14	Newark Liberty International (EWR)	Newark, NJ	17,055,993	16,814,092	1.44%
18	Philadelphia International (PHL)	Philadelphia, PA	14,589,337	14,883,180	-1.97%
20	La Guardia (LGA)	New York, NY	12,818,717	11,989,227	6.92%
22	Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall (BWI)	Linthicum, MD	11,186,444	11,067,319	1.08%
23	Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)	Dulles, VA	10,816,216	11,044,383	-2.07%
25	Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)	Arlington, VA	9,462,231	9,053,004	4.52%
46	Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT)	Pittsburgh, PA	3,892,338	4,070,614	-4.38%

Mid-Atlantic Airports Seeing Steady Growth
Of the 8 busiest airports in the Mid-Atlantic, five saw an increase in their number of boardings. La Guardia Airport (LGA) in New York saw the largest year-over-year percentage increase (6.92%), followed by Reagan National (DCA) in Washington D.C. (4.52%). Both airports happen to be the only federal slots-restricted airports in the country, and the increase in traffic could partly be attributed to a recent slot swap between Delta (which maintains a hub at LaGuardia) and US Airways (which operates a hub at National). As part of the deal, each airline ended up with more slots at their respective hub. In addition, some airlines at National Airport also benefited from additional exemptions to the airport's perimeter restrictions. In addition to National and LaGuardia, John F Kennedy (JFK), Baltimore-Washington (BWI), and Newark (EWR) airports also saw increases in passenger enplanements; all three airports are in the midst of major facility expansions.