Port of New York and New Jersey Floats to Second-Busiest August Ever
PATH Commuter Rail’s August Ridership is Busiest Since Pandemic
Bridges and Tunnels Were Two Percent Above August 2024 Levels
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey today announced that August 2025 was its airports’ busiest month ever as the four commercial airports collectively welcomed 13.8 million passengers. Several other airport records also were broken during the month, including a new all-time high level of international passengers. Ridership on the PATH commuter rail jumped 7 percent from August 2024, while the Port of New York and New Jersey reported its second-busiest August ever. Vehicular traffic at the agency’s six crossings remained strong with levels consistent with 2024 and pre-pandemic 2019.
Airports:
August 2025 marked the busiest month ever at the Port Authority’s commercial airports, bolstered by the airports’ busiest Labor Day holiday travel period. The month’s total of 13.8 million passengers eclipsed the previous record high of 13.7 million passengers from July 2024. August 2025 also saw more international passengers at Port Authority airports than in any other month in agency history at 5.5 million. August 2025’s passenger total was a jump of 2.6 percent from August 2024.
August 2025 also was the busiest month ever at John F. Kennedy International Airport, welcoming 6.2 million passengers, while LaGuardia Airport recorded its busiest August ever with 3 million passengers. Newark Liberty International Airport, which faced Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic control staffing and equipment issues for much of the year, marked its first month of year-over-year growth since January 2025. Its August 2025 total of 4.5 million passengers was 4 percent above August 2024.
Another record was set over the Labor Day holiday travel period from Aug. 28 to Sept. 2. Approximately 2.5 million passengers traveled through the agency’s airports, a 2 percent jump over the previous record for the holiday period set in 2024.
Approximately 95.4 million passengers flew through Port Authority airports over the first eight months of the year. This was 2.2 percent below the total from the same period of 2024, largely driven by operational limits related to Newark Liberty’s FAA challenges.
Port of New York and New Jersey:
August 2025 was the Port of New York and New Jersey’s second-busiest August ever as businesses continued to bring in more products as a result of global trade volatility. The month’s 835,845 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) was just 0.9 percent below the monthly record set during the pandemic cargo surge in August 2022. August 2025’s total was a 5.7 percent jump from August 2024 and an increase of 23 percent from August 2019. The Port of New York and New Jersey sustained its position as the second-busiest U.S. port for loaded TEUs over the first eight months of the year.
From January through August, the port handled 6,047,395 total TEUs. This was a 4.1 percent jump from the same period of 2024 and was 21.1 percent above the first eight months of pre-pandemic 2019.
Tags: Port of New York and New Jersey, John F. Kennedy International Airport
