LaGuardia Airport is a civil airport in

East Elmhurst, Queens East Elmhurst is a residential neighborhood in the northwest section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded to the south by Jackson Heights and Corona, to the north and east by Bowery Bay, and to the west by Woodside and Ditmar ...

, New York City. Covering , the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after former New York City mayor

Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...

. The airport primarily accommodates airline service to domestic (and limited international) destinations. , it was the third-busiest airport in the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan area ...

, behind Kennedy and Newark airports, and the twenty-first busiest in the United States by passenger volume. The airport is located directly to the north of the

Grand Central Parkway The Grand Central Parkway (GCP) is a 14.61-mile (23.51 km) long parkway that stretches from the Triborough Bridge in New York City to Nassau County on Long Island. At the Queens–Nassau border, it becomes the Northern State Parkway, ...

, the airport’s primary access highway. While the airport is a hub for both

American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...

and

Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

, commercial service is strictly governed by unique regulations including a

curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...

, a slot system, and a "perimeter rule" prohibiting most nonstop flights to or from destinations greater than . Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, LaGuardia was notable for having obsolete and dirty facilities, inefficient air operations, and poor customer service metrics. Responding to these criticisms, the

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

(PANYNJ) in 2015 announced a multibillion-dollar reconstruction of the airport's passenger infrastructure, which is expected to be complete by 2025.

History

Original site

Prior to human development, the coastlines of

Bowery Bay Bowery Bay is a bay off the East River in New York City. It is located near the Steinway neighborhood of Queens and is bordered on the west by the Bowery Bay Water Pollution Control Plant and on the south and east by LaGuardia Airport. Before t ...

and

Flushing Bay Flushing Bay is a tidal embayment in New York City. It is located on the south side of the East River and stretches to the south near the neighborhood of Flushing, Queens. It is bordered on the west by LaGuardia Airport and the Grand Central Park ...

converged at a natural point that comprised the eventual northern shoreline of

Newtown, Queens Elmhurst (formerly Newtown) is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. It is bounded by Roosevelt Avenue on the north; the Long Island Expressway on the south; Junction Boulevard on the east; and the New York Connecting Railr ...

. By 1857 the area partially contained the estate of Benjamin Pike Jr., which was soon purchased and consolidated with other property by

William Steinway William Steinway, also known as Wilhelm Steinway (born Wilhelm Steinweg; March 5, 1835 – November 30, 1896), son of Steinway & Sons founder Henry E. Steinway, was a businessman and civic leader who was influential in the development of Astoria, ...

. In June 1886, Steinway opened a summer resort development known as Bowery Bay Beach on the peninsula. Originally featuring a bathing pavilion, beach, lawns, and boathouse, the resort was renamed North Beach and later expanded with the addition of Gala Amusement Park. By the turn of the century, North Beach's German-influenced development drew comparisons to Brooklyn's Coney Island. Its fortunes would soon turn, however, as Prohibition in the United States and war-related

anti-German sentiment Anti-German sentiment (also known as Anti-Germanism, Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, its culture, or its language. Its opposite is Germanophilia. Anti-German sentiment largely began wit ...

presented significant challenges to the resort's profitability. These factors, combined with increased industrialization and pollution of the Queens waterfront, made the area untenable as a leisure destination, and it was abandoned at some point in the 1920s.

North Beach Airport

In April 1929, New York Air Terminals, Inc., announced plans to open a private seaplane base at North Beach later that summer. The facility was christened on June 15 and initially featured a concrete plateau connected to the water by a amphibious aircraft ramp, with the former resort converted to a passenger terminal. Opening-day festivities for the new airport were attended by a crowd of 5,000, and included

Air Race Air racing is a type of motorsport that involves airplanes or other types of aircraft that compete over a fixed course, with the winner either returning the shortest time, the one to complete it with the most points, or to come closest to a prev ...

s with Curtiss Seagulls and Sikorsky flying boats, a dedication address by Borough President George U. Harvey, and the commencement of airline service to Albany and Atlantic City by Coastal Airways and Curtiss Flying Service. One month later, service to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

was launched using Savoia-Marchetti S.55 aircraft operated by Airvia.

Glenn H. Curtiss Airport

By 1930, the airport had been improved with

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

s and night-illuminated

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

s, and it housed seaplanes of the recently reorganized

New York City Police Department Aviation Unit The New York City Police Department Aviation Unit is a division of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) focused on airborne law enforcement and public safety. Operating under command of the NYPD Special Operations Bureau, the unit freq ...

. On September 23, the site was renamed Glenn H. Curtiss Airport in honor of the New York aviation pioneer who had died one month earlier (not to be confused with the preexisting Curtiss Field in nearby Garden City, nor a similarly renamed airport in Valley Stream). In a ceremony that same day, representatives from the forerunner to Trans World Airlines announced their bid to establish the nation's first transcontinental

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be t ...

route to the airport using Ford Trimotors; in attendance were

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

and

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, author, inventor, and activist. On May 20–21, 1927, Lindbergh made the first nonstop flight from New York City to Paris, a distance o ...

. On August 27, 1931, the airport welcomed the arrival of the world's then-largest airplane, the

Dornier Do X The Dornier Do X was the largest, heaviest, and most powerful flying boat in the world when it was produced by the Dornier company of Germany in 1929. First conceived by Claude Dornier in 1924, planning started in late 1925 and after over 240 ...

, after a 10-month transatlantic journey. Over 18,000 people visited the huge flying boat on its first day of static display, and it remained in the city for nine months. While the Do X was ultimately a commercial failure, its presence demonstrated the viability of long-distance air travel terminating a mere 20-minute drive from Manhattan. Likewise, this centralized location also enabled the airport to host hourly

air taxi An air taxi is a small commercial aircraft that makes short flights on demand. In 2001 air taxi operations were promoted in the United States by a NASA and aerospace industry study on the potential Small Aircraft Transportation System (SATS) ...

services between Newark and Brooklyn's

Floyd Bennett Field Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before being used as a naval air ...

that September. While Curtiss Field was quickly becoming a magnet of aviation, Newark Airport remained the primary terminal for New York City-bound passengers and mail. The city's lack of its own central airport lingered as the 1930s wore on—especially as discussion grew regarding the commercial viability of privately operated fields.

Municipal Airport 2

The 1934 election of mayor

ushered in a new era of public investment in New York City's airports. Mayor LaGuardia had been a long-time aviation advocate; in a 1927 editorial penned while serving as a

US Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

of New York, he criticized both the federal and state governments' slow progress in establishing municipal airports in the city. Although several potential sites had been identified, LaGuardia mainly pushed for the transformation of

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk Channel. The National Park ...

into a combined airport and seaplane base. "No greater monument to the life and activity of the Republic can be imagined," he wrote, painting it as a teeming transportation hub at the extreme center of the city. Military and shipping concerns eventually shut down the proposal, but LaGuardia and industry leaders maintained consensus that New York City needed a central "express" airport to complement the farther-flung

, which it completed in 1930. While the Governors Island proposal was being litigated, LaGuardia also saw development potential in Curtiss Airport. Under his administration, the City entered a 5-year contract with its owners, agreeing to lease the field for $1 per year, with an option to purchase the property for $1,500,000 (). The airport was officially dedicated Municipal Airport 2 on January 5, 1935. At a key ceremony that day, LaGuardia also received a signed lease from

TWA Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

for hangar space at Floyd Bennett Field—making it the first major US airline to serve New York City directly. While it would still be years before TWA arrived at North Beach, LaGuardia had begun fulfilling one of his ultimate goals: extracting New York City from "the humiliating position of seeing all its passengers and mail traffic go to a nearby state."

LaGuardia Airport

The initiative to develop the airport for commercial flights began with an outburst by New York mayor

(in office from 1934 to 1945) upon the arrival of his

flight at Newark Airport – the only commercial airport serving the New York City region at the time – as his ticket said "New York". He demanded to be taken to New York, and ordered the plane to be flown to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, giving an impromptu press conference to reporters along the way. He urged New Yorkers to support a new airport within their city.

accepted LaGuardia's offer to start a trial program of scheduled flights to Floyd Bennett, although the program failed after several months because Newark's airport was closer to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. La Guardia went as far as to offer police escorts to airport limousines in an attempt to get American Airlines to continue operating the trial program. LGA recheck compass jeh

During the Floyd Bennett experiment, LaGuardia and American executives began an alternative plan to build a new airport in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, where it could take advantage of the new

Queens–Midtown Tunnel The Queens–Midtown Tunnel (also sometimes called the Midtown Tunnel) is a vehicular tunnel under the East River in New York City, connecting the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens. The tunnel consists of a pair of tubes, each carrying two ...

to Manhattan. The existing North Beach Airport was an obvious location, but much too small for the sort of airport that was being planned. With backing and assistance from the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

, construction began in 1937, it is on the waterfront of

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

and

s in

East Elmhurst East Elmhurst is a residential neighborhood in the northwest section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded to the south by Jackson Heights and Corona, to the north and east by Bowery Bay, and to the west by Woodside and Ditmars ...

and borders the neighborhoods of Astoria and Jackson Heights. Building on the site required moving landfill from Rikers Island, then a garbage dump, onto a metal reinforcing framework. The framework below the airport still causes magnetic interference on the compasses of outgoing aircraft: signs on the airfield warn pilots about the problem. Because of American's pivotal role in the development of the airport, LaGuardia gave the airline extra real estate during the airport's first year of operation, including four hangars, which was an unprecedented amount of space at the time. American opened its first

Admirals Club American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...

(and the first private airline club in the world) at the airport in 1939. The club took over a large office space that had previously been reserved for the mayor, but he offered it for lease following criticism from the press, and American vice president Red Mosier immediately accepted the offer. Eleanor Roosevelt at LaGuardia Airport (1960)

Eleanor Roosevelt at LaGuardia Airport (1960)

The airport was dedicated on October 15, 1939, as the New York Municipal Airport, and opened for business on December 2 of that year. It cost New York City $23 million to turn the tiny North Beach Airport into a modern facility. Not everyone was as enthusiastic as La Guardia about the project; some critics regarded it as a $40 million boondoggle. But the public was fascinated by the very idea of air travel, and thousands traveled to the airport, paid the dime fee, and watched the airliners take off and land. Two years later these fees and their associated parking had already provided $285,000, and other non-travel related incomes (food, etc.) were another $650,000 a year. The airport was soon a financial success. A smaller airport in nearby Jackson Heights, Holmes Airport, was unable to prevent the expansion of the larger airport and closed in 1940. Newark Airport began renovations, but could not keep up with the new Queens airport, which ''

TIME Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' called "the most pretentious land and seaplane base in the world". Even before the project was completed LaGuardia had won commitments from the five largest airlines (

Pan American Airways Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United States ...

, American,

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

, Eastern Air Lines and

Transcontinental and Western Air Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline which operated from 1930 until 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with ...

) to begin using the new field as soon as it opened. Pan Am's transatlantic

Boeing 314 The Boeing 314 Clipper was an American long-range flying boat produced by Boeing from 1938 to 1941. One of the largest aircraft of its time, it had the range to cross the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. For its wing, Boeing re-used the design from ...

flying boats moved to La Guardia from Port Washington in 1940. During World War II the airport was used to train aviation technicians and as a logistics field. Transatlantic landplane airline flights started in late 1945; some continued after Idlewild (now John F. Kennedy International) opened in July 1948, but the last ones shifted to Idlewild in April 1951. Newspaper accounts alternately referred to the airfield as New York Municipal Airport and LaGuardia Field until the modern name was officially applied when the airport moved to

Port of New York Authority The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized b ...

control under a lease with New York City on June 1, 1947. LaGuardia opened with four runways at 45-degree angles to each other, the longest (13/31) being . Runway 18/36 was closed soon after a United DC-4 ran off the south end in 1947; runway 9/27 (4,500 ft) was closed around 1958, allowing LaGuardia's terminal to expand northward after 1960. Circa 1961 runway 13/31 was shifted northeastward to allow construction of a parallel taxiway (such amenities being unknown when LGA was built) and in 1965–66 both remaining runways were extended to their present . The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 283 weekday fixed-wing departures from LaGuardia: 126 American, 49 Eastern, 33 Northeast, 31 TWA, 29 Capital and 15 United. American's flights included 26 nonstops to Boston and 27 to Washington National (mostly Convair 240s). Jet flights (United 727s to Cleveland and Chicago) started on June 1, 1964. LGA seen from runway 13

Although LaGuardia was a large airport for the era in which it was built, it soon became too small. Starting in 1968

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

aircraft were charged heavy fees to operate from LaGuardia during peak hours, driving many LGA operators to airports such as

Teterboro Airport Teterboro Airport is a general aviation relief airport in the boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights in Bergen County, New Jersey.Teterboro, New Jersey Teterboro ( ) is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 67,Flushing Airport in 1984. Also in 1984, to further combat overcrowding at LGA, the Port Authority instituted a Sunday-thru-Friday "perimeter rule" banning nonstop flights from LaGuardia to cities more than away; at the time, Denver was the only such city with nonstop flights, and it became the only exception to the rule. (In 1986

Western Airlines Western Airlines was a major airline based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexico City, London and ...

hoped to fly 737-300s nonstop to

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...

and unsuccessfully challenged the rule in federal court.) Later, the Port Authority also moved to connect JFK and Newark Airport to regional rail networks with the AirTrain Newark and

AirTrain JFK AirTrain JFK is an elevated people mover system and airport rail link serving John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK Airport) in New York City. The driverless system operates 24/7 and consists of three lines and nine stations within the ...

, in an attempt to make these more distant airports competitive with LaGuardia. In addition to these local regulations, the

FAA The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

also limited the number of flights and types of aircraft that could operate at LaGuardia. LaGuardia's traffic continued to grow. By 2000, the airport routinely experienced overcrowding delays, many more than an hour long. That year,

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

passed legislation to revoke the federal traffic limits on LaGuardia by 2007. The reduced demand for air travel following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City quickly slowed LaGuardia's traffic growth, helping to mitigate the airport's delays. Ongoing Port Authority investments to renovate the Central Terminal Building and improve the airfield layout have also made the airport's operations more efficient in recent years. LA GUARDIA AIRPORT,QUEENS, NY ,USA - panoramio

LA GUARDIA AIRPORT,QUEENS, NY ,USA - panoramio

FAA approved Instrument Departure Procedure "Whitestone Climb" and the "Expressway Visual Approach to Runway 31". When adopting the Expressway Approach, when the aircraft crosses the intersection of

I-278 Interstate 278 (I-278) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in New Jersey and New York in the United States. The road runs from US Route 1/9 (US 1/9) in Linden, New Jersey, northeast to the Bruckner Interchange in the New Yor ...

and the

Long Island Expressway Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music men ...

in Long Island City, it turns northeast on 85° and follows the

, after reaching

Flushing Meadow Park Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

, the aircraft executes a 135° left turn over the

and joins the final approach to the Runway 31. When adopting Whitestone Climb, aircraft will circle over Flushing and head to

Whitestone Bridge Whitestone may refer to: Places * Whitestone, Alaska, an unincorporated community * Whitestone, Devon, a village in the United Kingdom * Whitestone, Ontario, a township in Canada and a community within the township * Whitestone, Queens, a neighb ...

on the North upon takeoff from Runway 13. Such patterns aim to reduce the noise, avoid the traffic of the

JFK Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New ...

and maximize the air traffic capacity in the

New York TRACON The New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) is located in Westbury, Long Island. New York TRACON, also known as N90, is a type of Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control facility known as a consolidated TRACON, meaning that ...

. In late 2006, construction began to replace the

Wallace Harrison Wallace Kirkman Harrison (September 28, 1895 – December 2, 1981) was an American architect. Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center. He i ...

designed air traffic control tower built in 1962 with a more modern one. The tower began operations on October 9, 2010. On August 12, 2009,

and

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon ...

announced a

landing slot __NOTOC__ A landing slot, takeoff slot, or airport slot is a permission granted by the owner of an airport designated as Level 3 (Coordinated Airport), which allows the grantee to schedule a landing or departure at that airport during a specific t ...

and terminal swap in separate press releases. Under the swap plan, US Airways would have given Delta 125 operating slot pairs at LaGuardia. US Airways, in return, would have received 42 operating slot pairs at

Ronald Reagan National Airport Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

in Washington, D.C., and be granted the authority to begin service from the US to

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

, Brazil, and Tokyo, Japan. When the swap plan was complete, Delta Shuttle operations would have moved from the Marine Air Terminal to Terminal C (the present US Airways terminal), and Terminals C and D would have been connected together. US Airways Shuttle flights would have moved to the Marine Air Terminal, and mainline US Airways flights would have moved to Terminal D (the present Delta terminal). The

United States Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States a ...

announced that they would approve the Delta/US Airways transaction under the condition that they sell slots to other airlines. Delta and US Airways dropped the slot swap deal in early July 2010 and both airlines filed a court appeal. In May 2011, both airlines announced that they would resubmit their proposal of the slot swap to the US DOT. It was tentatively approved by the US DOT on July 21, 2011. The slot swap received final approval from the US DOT on October 10, 2011. On December 16, 2011,

announced plans to open a new domestic hub at LaGuardia Airport. The investment was the largest single expansion by any carrier at LaGuardia in decades, with flights increasing by more than 60 percent, and destinations by more than 75 percent. By summer 2013, Delta increased operations to 264 daily flights between LaGuardia and more than 60 cities, more than any other airline at LaGuardia. In November 2019, Southwest Airlines ended service to Newark primarily due to the

Boeing 737 MAX groundings The Boeing 737 MAX passenger airliner was grounded worldwide between March 2019 and December 2020longer in many jurisdictionsafter 346 people died in two crashes: Lion Air Flight 610 on October 29, 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 on Ma ...

, poor performance, and inadequate facilities, and consolidated its New York-area operations to LaGuardia and Islip.

Reconstruction

Laguardia American terminal 2021 Overhead

In April 2010, Port Authority director Christopher Ward announced that the agency had hired consultants to explore a full demolition and rebuilding of LaGuardia's Central Terminal. The project would create a unified, modern, and efficient plan for the airport, currently an amalgam of decades of additions and modifications. The project, expected to cost $2.4 billion, will include the demolition of the existing central terminal building and its four concourses, garage, Hangar 1, and frontage roads; building temporary facilities, and designing and building a new central terminal building. The rebuilding would be staged in phases in order to maintain operations throughout the project. Proposals were due on January 31, 2012. Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority, said, "It's got a quaint, nostalgic but unacceptable kind of the 1940s, 1950s feel that's just not acceptable." The Port Authority was seeking a private company to develop and operate the replacement terminal with private funds, similar to how Delta operates the other terminals at the airport. However, in January 2014, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan for the state to oversee the construction of the long-stalled new terminal project instead of the proposed public-private partnership. LGA Apr 2018 12

On July 27, 2015, Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...

, joined by then-Vice President Joe Biden, announced a $4 billion plan to rebuild the terminals as one contiguous building with terminal bridges connecting buildings. Airport officials and planners had concluded that the airport essentially had to be torn down and rebuilt. Under the airport reconstruction plan disclosed in 2015, a single terminal building is to be constructed in stages, with a

people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...

, retail space and a new hotel. Some of additional

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use gravel ...

s are to be built. A people mover is to connect the new terminal sections, the

is to be reconfigured, and

AirTrain LaGuardia AirTrain LaGuardia is a proposed people mover system and elevated railway in New York City, United States, that would provide service to LaGuardia Airport in Queens. It would connect with the New York City Subway and Long Island Rail Road (LIR ...

, previously announced, will connect the airport to the Mets–Willets Point subway station and the Mets–Willets Point LIRR station. A proposed high-speed ferry, if introduced, will service the

Marine Air Terminal The Marine Air Terminal (also known as Terminal A) is an airport terminal located at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York City. Its main building, designed in the Art Deco style by William Delano of the firm Delano & Aldrich, opened in 1940. T ...

, a national historic landmark, which will remain intact. An onsite tram has also been proposed to move passengers more quickly within the central terminal. The new airport is to be eco-friendly and contain accommodations such as a hotel of approximately 200 rooms and a business/conference center. The entire airport will move closer to the Grand Central Parkway. New parking garages replaced parking facilities between the existing terminals and Grand Central Parkway, creating space for the new facilities. By locating the terminals closer to the Grand Central Parkway, additional space for aircraft taxiways and hold areas was created, reducing ground delays. The runways themselves were not reconfigured. Construction of the project's first phase started in spring of 2016, once final plans were approved by the Port Authority board, with the entire redevelopment scheduled to be completed by late 2022. Terminal B will be demolished, and

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D ( NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

will rebuild its terminals C and D in coordination with the plan. The new airport will feature an island gate system, with passengers connecting between the terminal building and the gates via bridges that will be high enough for aircraft to taxi under. In late March 2016, the comprehensive plans for the redevelopment were approved unanimously between the Port Authority of New York, New Jersey, and LaGuardia Gateway Partners for the Terminal B Project. Construction costs were estimated to range from $4 billion to $5.3 billion. In August 2017, Magic Johnson Enterprises and Loop Capital created a joint venture named JLC Capital to invest in Phase 2 of LaGuardia Airport's reconstruction. The same month, Delta broke ground on the last phase of the airport's reconstruction. On December 9, 2017, six airlines moved at LGA in anticipation of the new terminals.

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest airline in North America when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and the num ...

and

JetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation (stylized as jetBlue) is a major American low cost airline, and the seventh largest airline in North America by passengers carried. The airline is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York C ...

moved to the Marine Air Terminal. American consolidated in Terminal B. Frontier and

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

depart from Terminal C and arrive at Terminal D. Since the move, there have been further changes with

ending service to LaGuardia,

moving all but Boston flights to Terminal B, and

consolidating its operations in Terminal A. LaGuardia Gateway Partners, which manages the construction of Terminal B, has completed most of the complex. The first half of the seven-level West Parking Garage opened in February 2018, with 1,600 of 3,100 parking spaces being made available, and the rest of the garage was opened later that year. Eleven new gates at Terminal B opened on December 1, 2018, and were used by Air Canada, American Airlines, and Southwest Airlines. Five additional gates opened on June 2, 2019, when United relocated most of its operations to the new concourse. The new space included a concourse with a ceiling, food concessions, an

FAO Schwarz FAO Schwarz is an American toy brand and store. The company is known for its high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, interactive experiences, brand integrations, and games. FAO Schwarz claims to be the oldest toy store in the United States ...

toy store, and an indoor play area. The new headhouse at Terminal B opened on June 13, 2020, along with the new connector to the Eastern Concourse. On August 5, 2020, American opened the first seven gates of the Western Concourse, with ten additional gates and the bridge connector scheduled to open at the end of 2021. The second bridge connecting to Terminal B was later completed and opened to the public on January 27, 2022. On the east side of the airport,

is consolidating its two terminals, Terminal C and D, into a centralized Terminal C headhouse, which is located on the former Terminal D parking site. In addition, Delta is rebuilding its airside facilities into four "finger" concourses. The first concourse to open was Concourse G on the eastern end of the airport, which opened on October 29, 2019. Delta Shuttle flights moved to the Concourse G on November 16, 2019. On June 4, 2022, Delta unveiled its new Terminal C headhouse to the public in tandem with concourse E, which boasts 10 narrow body gates. The Terminal C headhouse consolidates the former Terminal C and D's security checkpoint into 11 lanes which, if necessary, can be expanded to 16 lanes. Other features include a dedicated drop-off area for carry-on-only passengers, biometric scanning technology, a sensory room designed for those with autism, and Delta's largest Sky Club to date. As of June 2022, Delta is in the process of replacing Terminal D's gates and will start construction of Concourse D. Delta is fast-tracking its remaining projects at Terminal C due to the impacts from the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, which allowed the airline to use the decrease in passage traffic to speed up construction by two years.

Operations

While LaGuardia frequently accommodates

, the airport is primarily serviced by Part 121 scheduled

air carriers An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in whic ...

providing passenger service to regional, domestic, and limited international destinations. Because of its congested nature and proximity to dense urban neighborhoods, commercial flights to and from the airport are subject to several restrictions enacted by both the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...

(FAA) and the

(PANYNJ). The airport almost only ever handles narrow-body aircraft and can handle Airplane Design Group (ADG) IV widebody aircraft such as the Boeing 767 and the

Airbus A310 The Airbus A310 is a wide-body aircraft, designed and manufactured by Airbus Industrie, then a consortium of European aerospace manufacturers. Airbus had identified a demand for an aircraft smaller than the A300, the first twin-jet wide-bod ...

, however these aircraft in this group are rarely seen at LaGuardia.

Service restrictions

International flights

The airport does not have U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities. As such, international arrivals are only possible from airports serviced by

United States border preclearance The United States Department of Homeland Security operates prescreening border control facilities at airports and other ports of departure located outside of the United States under agreement between it and the host country. Travelers are subj ...

. Passengers and crewmembers on these flights clear customs at their departure airport and—for immigration purposes—are considered to be on the US

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

during their entire journey, allowing them to exit LaGuardia in the same manner as domestic travelers.

Curfew and Perimeter Rule

To mitigate the impact of

aircraft noise pollution Aircraft noise pollution refers to noise produced by aircraft in flight that has been associated with several negative stress-mediated health effects, from sleep disorders to cardiovascular ones. Governments have enacted extensive controls that a ...

and facilitate airfield maintenance, a seasonal curfew traditionally exists between the hours of 12am and 6am during the warm months of the year. Additionally, a 1984 "Perimeter Rule" implemented by PANYNJ bars airline flights to and from points farther than , except on Saturdays or to

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

. With

long haul In aviation, the flight length refers to the distance of a flight. Commercial flights are often categorized into long-, medium- or short-haul by commercial airlines based on flight length, although there is no international standard definition and ...

operations generally requiring heavier fuel loads and larger aircraft, the regulation aims to eliminate excess perceived noise generated by such flights. Changes to the Perimeter Rule were considered as recently as 2015, but a New York State Senate bill was introduced in 2021 with the intent of codifying the rule into law.

Slot system

As one of the United States' most-dense and congested Class B airports, LaGuardia's IFR operations are governed by an FAA slot system. Operators are granted time-sensitive individual takeoff and landing rights in accordance with the International Air Transport Association's Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines (WASG)''.'' In 2020, the FAA responded to drastic reductions in air traffic caused by the

by suspending the expiration of unused slots at several US airports including LaGuardia.

Facilities

Terminals

LaGuardia has three active terminals (A, B, and C) with 72 gates. The terminals are all connected by buses and walkways. Signage throughout the terminals was designed by Paul Mijksenaar. As with the other Port Authority airports, some terminals at LaGuardia are managed and maintained by airlines themselves. Terminal B was under direct Port Authority operation; however, in 2016, operation of Terminal B was transferred to a private company, LaGuardia Gateway Partners. LaGuardia is undergoing a multi-billion dollar redesign that resulted in a new Terminal B and a new Terminal C (encompassing the old Terminals C and D). Terminal A remains unchanged except for minor updates. The new layout will consist of new gate concourses as well. The new Terminal B has two gate concourses referred to as the Western Concourse (Gates 11–31) and Eastern Concourse (Gates 40–59). The new Terminal C has four gate concourses (numbered 61–69, 71–79, 82–89, and 92–98).

Terminal A

Terminal A, known as the

(MAT), was the airport's original terminal for overseas flights. The waterfront terminal was designed to serve the fleet of

flying boats A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

, or Clippers, of

, America's main international airline throughout the 1930s and 1940s. When a Clipper landed in Long Island Sound, it taxied to a dock where passengers could disembark into the terminal. During World War II, new four-engine land planes were developed, and flying boats stopped carrying scheduled passengers out of New York after 1947. The last Pan American flight left the terminal in February 1952, bound for Bermuda. Inside the terminal hangs ''Flight'', a mural measuring in height and in length; it was the largest mural created as part of the Great Depression–era

(WPA). Completed by James Brooks in 1942, ''Flight'' depicts the history of humanity's involvement with flight. The mural was painted over without explanation by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in the 1950s, possibly because some saw left-wing symbolism in it. After an extensive restoration project headed by aviation historian Geoffrey Arend, the mural was rededicated in 1980. In 1986, Pan Am restarted flights at the MAT with the purchase of

New York Air New York Air was a low-cost U.S. airline owned by Texas Air Corporation and based at Hangar 5 at LaGuardia Airport in Flushing, Queens, New York. It ceased operations on February 1, 1987, in a merger with Continental Airlines. New York Air ...

's shuttle service between Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. In 1991,

bought the Pan Am Shuttle and subsequently started service from the MAT on September 1. In 1995, the MAT was designated as a historic landmark. A $7 million restoration was completed in time for the airport's 65th anniversary of commercial flights on December 2, 2004. On December 9, 2017, JetBlue and Alaska Airlines relocated to the MAT, while Delta consolidated all Delta Shuttle flights to Terminal C. On October 27, 2018, Alaska Airlines ended all service from LaGuardia Airport, leaving JetBlue as the terminal's only tenant. On April 28, 2021,

Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines Inc. (stylized as spirit) is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. carrier headquartered in Miramar, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean and Latin Americ ...

started operating its

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

-bound flights from Terminal A. On July 20, 2021, JetBlue announced that they will be relocating from the MAT to Terminal B, a move they completed on July 9, 2022, with the relocation of Boston flights to Terminal B. On March 29, 2022, all flights operated by

now operate out of the MAT. On September 13 of that year, Frontier Airlines moved all of its flights to Terminal A.

Terminal B

Terminal B serves many airlines, and it functions as a large hub for

. In 2017, work started on the first of two new concourses, which replaced the old A, B, C, and D concourses. The new terminal was designed by

Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum HOK, formerly Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum and legally HOK Group, Inc., is an American design, architecture, engineering, and urban planning firm, founded in 1955. As of 2018, HOK is the largest U.S.-based architecture-engineering f ...

. In 2020, the new Terminal B headhouse opened with a bridge connecting it to the completed Eastern Concourse. On January 27, 2022, a second bridge was completed, connecting Terminal B's headhouse to the Western Concourse. In 2022, the old Terminal B was demolished. On October 31, 2021,

moved to Terminal B (except for flights to Boston), as the airline wanted to make connections easier with

due to the "Northeast Alliance" between them. JetBlue's Boston flights moved to Terminal B on July 9, 2022. Headhouse Floorplans: Western Concourse (Gates 11–31)
In 2020, 8 gates at Terminal B's new Western Concourse opened (24–31). An additional 4 gates (19, 20, 22, and 23) were opened on December 15, 2021, along with a new American Airlines Admirals Lounge. With the opening of these new gates, the old concourse D, the last of the old Terminal B gates, was closed to traffic. An additional 2 gates (17 and 18) were opened on April 18, 2022. Another gate, Gate 11, came online as of May 17, 2022, and on June 8, 2022, two more gates, Gate 12 and Gate 14, were opened. On July 9, 2022, the final two new gates, Gate 15 and Gate 16, opened. However, Gate 23 has been taken out of service to move its jetway to the new Gate 16. American Airlines now operates all flights in this concourse. *

American Eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

(Gates 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31) Eastern Concourse (Gates 40–59)
On December 1, 2018, eleven gates at Terminal B's new Eastern Concourse opened. Five additional gates opened on June 2, 2019, allowing United Airlines to move all of its operations at LaGuardia to the new concourse. On May 20, 2022, the jetway from Gate 49 was moved to Western Concourse Gate 14 for installation. *

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled an ...

/ Air Canada Express (Gates 51 and 52) *

(Gates 40, 41, 42, 53, 54, 58, and 59) * Southwest Airlines (Gates 48, 55, 56, and 57) *

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

(Gates 43, 44, 45, 46, and 47)

Terminal C

The new Terminal C, designed by Corgan, opened on June 4, 2022, and connects to four concourses serving

and

WestJet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

(D, E, F, and G). Two of these concourses are new (E and G) and two (D and F) are part of the original Terminal C and D and will be used while new concourses are completed. While the old Terminal C and Terminal D buildings remain while its concourses are still active, the ticketing and baggage operations of these gates have been consolidated into the new Terminal C. When completed, the new Terminal C will include access to 37 gates in its four concourses. The new Terminal C also has a Delta Sky Club, the airline's largest. As of June 4, 2022, these renumbered gates are active: * Gates 60A, 60B, and 62–69, the original portion of Terminal C, are used for

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to ope ...

, and

flights. The gates were formerly numbered C1-C41. The replacement concourse, Concourse D, will use the numbers 61–69 for its gates when it is built. * Gates 70, 72–79, in the new Concourse E, opened in 2022, are reserved for

. Concourse E is on the site where the eastern half of the original Terminal C was. * Gates 81–84, 85A, 85B, and 89, in the original portion of Terminal D, are used for

flights. The gates were formally numbered D1-D11. The Delta Sky Club in the old Terminal D near Gate 81 is still open. There is a temporary passageway to Concourse G that will allow passengers to enter the new Terminal C until the new Concourse F is completed. It will use Gates 80–89. * Gates 92–98, in the new Concourse G, opened in 2019, are used for

and

flights.

Former Terminals

Central Terminal Building (Original Terminal B)

The Central Terminal Building was originally six blocks long, and consisted of a four-story central section, two three-story wings, and four concourses (A, B, C, and D) with 40 aircraft gates. The $36 million facilities designed by Harrison and Abramovitz was dedicated on April 17, 1964. Delta and US Airways left the CTB in 1983 and 1992 respectively for their own dedicated terminals on the east side of the airport. The Port Authority and various airlines carried out a $340 million improvement project in the 1990s to expand and renovate the existing space. The terminal was replaced by the new Terminal B, with the final gates (Concourse D) and terminal already demolished in early 2022.

Terminal C (1992–2022)

Terminal C of LaGuardia Airport (23439339802)

Terminal C (formerly known as the East End Terminal and USAir Terminal) was a facility that opened September 12, 1992, at a cost of $250 million. Designed by William Nicholas Bodouva + Associates Architects and Planners, it housed part of Delta's operations at LaGuardia. On June 4, 2022, Terminal C's check-in and baggage claim areas were closed. The building was initially conceived in a 1989 agreement between the Port Authority and Texas Air Corporation (then-owner of Continental Airlines and Eastern Air Lines). When Eastern was forcibly bankrupted by Texas Air, its assets—including the new terminal's leases—were transferred to Continental. Continental never moved in, and in turn, sold the leases (along with most of its LaGuardia slots) to

as part of a bankruptcy restructuring.

Trump Shuttle Trump Shuttle, Inc., was an airline owned by businessman Donald Trump from 1989 to 1992. The landing rights and some of the physical assets necessary to operate the shuttle flights were originally part of Eastern Air Lines and known as the ...

, successor to the Eastern Air Shuttle, also occupied the terminal before becoming

US Airways Shuttle US Airways Shuttle was the brand name for US Airways' hourly air shuttle service operating in the Northeastern United States. It served Logan International Airport in Boston, LaGuardia Airport in New York City, and Ronald Reagan Washington ...

. As a result of a slot-swap deal between

and

, as of July 2012, Delta occupied the majority of the terminal (gates C15–C44). American (the former

flights) operated some flights from gates C35–C44 until December 9, 2017. The eastern concourse connected to Terminal C has been closed and demolished (Gates C15-C24), and the construction of the new Concourse E has been completed. The new concourse opened to the public on June 4, 2022. This new concourse is numbered 70–79 for its gates.

Terminal D

Terminal D opened on June 19, 1983, at a cost of approximately $90 million, and was designed by William Nicholas Bodouva + Associates Architects to accommodate Delta's new

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its mai ...

and Boeing 767 aircraft. This terminal also housed

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

and

Northwest Airlink Northwest Airlink was the brand name of Northwest Airlines' regional airline service, which flew turboprop and regional jet aircraft from Northwest's domestic hubs in Minneapolis, Detroit, and Memphis. Service was primarily to small-to-medium-siz ...

from its opening in 1983 until the merger into Delta in 2009. As of January 8, 2020,

and

operate out of the new Concourse G that was connected to Terminal D. Terminal D was connected to Terminal C by a 600-foot walkway, which opened in early 2013 as part of Delta's effort to build a hub at LaGuardia. As of September 1, 2020, the walkway between Terminals C and D were demolished, and the construction of the new Concourse F is currently underway. As of June 4, 2022, Terminal D's check-in and baggage claim areas were closed. During the week of September 12–18, 2022, the central and eastern sections of Terminal D were demolished. The West end of Terminal D with a Delta Sky Club and gates 81–85 remain standing and are still in use. This section is connected to the new Terminal C via a walkway bridge. The remaining gates will stay in operation until the new Concourse F is complete which will use gate numbers 82–89.

General aviation

Although there is no separate terminal building for general aviation aircraft a pseudo-terminal is operated within the Marine Air Terminal (Terminal A), which is currently run by Sheltair Aviation providing full FBO services to private and charter aircraft owners-pilots including

100LL Avgas (aviation gasoline, also known as aviation spirit in the UK) is an aviation fuel used in aircraft with spark-ignited internal combustion engines. ''Avgas'' is distinguished from conventional gasoline (petrol) used in motor vehicles, ...

and Jet A fueling, computerized weather, and flight planning as well as pilot and passenger lounges. To access the General Aviation terminal an on-airport tenant must possess a SIDA (Security Identification Display Area) badge for unescorted access, transient aircraft owners-pilots and passengers must be escorted at all times into and out of the GA Terminal and to the ramp and hangar areas by the FBO staff. Following the events of the

terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

, the

changed the rules for the landing and departure of general aviation aircraft at LaGuardia. Pilots operating a non-scheduled IFR flight are now required to make a reservation via the FAA's e-CVRS system no more than 72 hours prior to the flight's arrival or departure while public charter flights may make a reservation up to six months prior. Unscheduled IFR flights may only operate at LaGuardia with a reservation from the hours of 6:00 am to 9:59 pm local time Monday thru Friday and 12:00 pm to 9:59 pm local time on Sundays. Reservations for unscheduled IFR flights are not required all day on Saturdays. Aircraft without a reservation will be redirected to either

Teterboro Airport Teterboro Airport is a general aviation relief airport in the boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights in Bergen County, New Jersey.Linden Airport Linden Airport is a mile southeast of downtown Linden, in Union County, New Jersey. Also known as Linden Municipal Airport, it is next to U.S. Route 1&9. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a gene ...

. A private seaplane base, EDO , operates three waterways in

and the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...

north of LaGuardia Airport.

Ground transportation

, buses are the only mode of mass transit to connect the airport with its surroundings. All terminals are served by

accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i. ...

public

MTA bus MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). It was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations in New York City operated by the MTA. , MTA Regional Bus Operations ru ...

lines—including two

Select Bus Service Select Bus Service (SBS; stylized as +busservice) is a brand used by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)'s Regional Bus Operations for limited-stop bus routes with some bus rapid transit features in New York City. The first SBS route ...

s (SBS)—and free transfers to the New York City Subway are provided via

OMNY OMNY ( , short for One Metro New York) is a contactless fare payment system, currently being implemented for use on public transit in the New York metropolitan area. When OMNY is completely rolled out, it will replace the MetroCard on the Ne ...

MetroCard The MetroCard is a magnetic stripe card used for fare payment on transportation in the New York City area. It is the primary payment method for the New York City Subway (including the Staten Island Railway), New York City Transit buses and M ...

payments. * M60 Select Bus Service (All terminals) * Q47 (Terminal A (Marine Air Terminal) only) * Q48 (all terminals) * Q70 "LaGuardia Link" Select Bus Service (all terminals except Terminal A) * Q72 (all terminals except Terminal A) The airport also features a complementary internal shuttle bus route which makes stops at all terminals. Despite many failed proposals throughout its history, LaGuardia is not served directly by rail. Nearby lines of the New York City Subway and Long Island Rail Road (LIRR), however, provides northern Queens with connections to the greater

and are commonly accessed from the airport by public bus or private car services. The airport is mainly accessible via the

and overpasses at 94th street and 102nd street.

Taxicab A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choi ...

s serving LaGuardia are metered and licensed by the

New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

, and uniformed airport employees are stationed to dispatch fares. For-hire-vehicles (FHV) including

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pr ...

s and rideshare operators are accommodated at designated locations. In 2019, PANYNJ approved the implementation of "airport access fee" surcharges on FHV and taxi trips, with the revenue earmarked to support the agency's capital programs. Planeview Park (LGA)

Other facilities

When

was in operation, its headquarters were in Hangar 5 at LaGuardia. Law enforcement and

Aircraft rescue and firefighting Aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) is a type of firefighting that involves the emergency response, mitigation, evacuation, and rescue of passengers and crew of aircraft involved in aviation accidents and incidents. Airports with schedule ...

(ARFF) services are provided by the Port Authority Police Department (PAPD). The agency's LaGuardia Airport Command (Building 137) was completed in 2010. Emergency medical services are provided by

North Shore University Hospital North Shore University Hospital (formerly known as Manhasset Hospital) is a part of Northwell Health, New York State's largest healthcare provider and private employer. It is a primary teaching hospital for the Donald & Barbara Zucker School of ...

under contract to the Port Authority. Overlooking the approach end of runway 4 is Planeview Park, a

public park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to r ...

operated by the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

. The space contains park benches and

lawn A lawn is an area of soil-covered land planted with grasses and other durable plants such as clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawnmower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic and recreational purposes. ...

s adjacent the

along the southern perimeter of the airport and is a prime viewing location for

aircraft spotting Aircraft spotting, or plane spotting is a hobby of tracking the movement of aircraft, which is often accomplished by photography. Besides monitoring aircraft, plane spotting enthusiasts (who are usually called plane spotters) also record informa ...

Airlines and destinations

Statistics

Top destinations

Airline market share

Annual traffic

Accidents and incidents

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laguardia Airport Airports in Queens, New York Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in New York (state) Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in North America Works Progress Administration in New York City Airports established in 1939 1939 establishments in New York City Port Authority of New York and New Jersey East Elmhurst, Queens