Cathay Pacific is making big moves at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).
The Hong Kong-based airline announced this week that it will be one of the opening anchor tenants at the airport’s new Terminal 6.
The move to Terminal 6, scheduled to open in early 2026, will mark a major move for Cathay, which currently operates from Terminal 8.
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Terminal 8 is considered the Oneworld alliance hub at JFK. The main tenant is American Airlines (a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance), and most other Oneworld airlines flying to JFK have moved their operations there after a recent modernization and expansion projects completed by US authorities and the airport in 2022. (Cathay moved from Terminal 7 to Terminal 8 in January 2017.)
Cathay’s move to Terminal 6 is largely driven by the fact that the airline will be able to open its own exclusive lounge at JFK to serve three daily flights to the airport. The airline did not share details about the space other than to say it will be nearly 10,000 square feet. The lounge at JFK will become Cathay’s second US airport lounge after the lounge at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
Many top international airlines want to control the entire premium passenger experience from start to finish, and opening a lounge at a stopover is a great way for an airline to do that. Plus, Cathay now has to compensate American for the passengers it sends Soho, Greenwich and Admirals Club Lounges in Terminal 8, which will probably be quite expensive for all lounge-eligible passengers flying on Cathay from New York.
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“We have long had the ambition to bring our customers the signature Cathay Pacific experience at JFK airport. We are excited about our partnership with JFK Millennium Partners, which will turn this dream into reality. reality,” Chris van den Hooven, senior vice president of Cathay Pacific in the Americas, said in a statement about the move.
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In addition to Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa Group, Aer Lingus and JetBlue all share the intention to operate flights from Terminal 6.
The new Terminal 6 is part of the The JFK transformation project is worth $19 billion led by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the government agency responsible for managing the airport. The transformation includes two brand new terminals that will open in 2026.
Terminal 6 is the smaller of the two projects. Once complete, the $4.2 billion project will span 1.2 million square feet and feature 10 new gates — nine of which can handle wide-body jets. The new terminal will be connected to adjacent Terminal 5, which is home to JetBlue Airways’ JFK hub.
The remaining project is the construction of a new $9.5 billion Terminal 1, which will become one of JFK’s flagship international terminals.
The new Terminal 1 at JFK will combine the current and former sites of Terminals 1, 2 and 3 into a 2.4 million square foot international terminal that will serve as an anchor point on the south of the airport.
The first major milestone, including new arrivals and departures halls and the first 14 new gates, is expected to open in 2026. When fully completed in 2030, the new Terminal One will have 23 gates, Check-in was redesigned and the arrival space was overhauled.
“New York JFK is one of the flagship locations in our global lounge strategy. We are really excited about the opportunity to bring the signature Cathay Pacific lounge experience to our premium customers at this important port in our network. The new lounge will feature a number of lounges, including Vivian Lo, Cathay Pacific’s general manager of customer experience, in a statement. “These exciting developments will place it at the forefront of our lounge proposition and we look forward to sharing further details with our customers in due course,” said Cathay Pacific’s general manager of customer experience, in a statement.
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