Surprise – Newark Airport Is Among Nation’s Best, New Ranking Says

NEWARK, NJ — Many New Jersey air travelers may know Newark Airport by its history of soul-crushing delays, canceled flights and shortages of air traffic controllers. But over the past year, the airport has been carving itself out a more flattering legacy – and one of the aviation industry’s most respected ratings firm has taken notice.

Skytrax recently awarded the airport’s new $2.7 billion terminal a five-star rating: its highest possible mark. The rating was given after an audit and assessment of the terminal’s facilities, operations and customer service.

Skytrax cited “outstanding multimedia features” in its review of the terminal, which is one of only two in North America to receive its top rating along with along with LaGuardia Airport in New York City, another facility run by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Here’s what else earned Newark Airport’s Terminal A its five-star rating, officials said:

“The 1 million-square-foot Terminal A opened in phases throughout 2023 as airport operations migrated from the 50-year-old former Terminal A. The $2.7 billion project represented both the Port Authority’s largest ever single investment in New Jersey and the state’s largest design-build project. The terminal served 15 million passengers in its first year, greatly outperforming yearly passenger totals from the previous Terminal A. The facility features state-of-the-art passenger amenities, local artwork, a children’s play space, digital technology and dozens of local dining and retail options. Other unique passenger amenities include a sensory room that offers travelers with disabilities and their families a calm space away from the bustle of the airport, and a children’s lending library curated by a local fifth grader.”

“Terminal A at Newark Liberty International Airport provides an excellent range of passenger facilities, easy customer wayfinding, excellent signage and high standards of staff service,” said Edward Plaisted of Skytrax.

“The outstanding multimedia features offer a unique, differentiating factor here at Terminal A,” Plaisted added.

Airport officials and managers also cheered the news.

“We set out to raise the bar with Terminal A, from its soaring architecture to its streamlined design to its engaging local art,” Port Authority chair Kevin O’Toole said.

“This stellar evaluation from the aviation industry’s preeminent rating organization proves we’ve accomplished exactly that,” he added.

“We are honored to be recognized as a five-star airport terminal,” said Michael Kunz, CEO of Munich Airport NJ LLC, the operator of Newark Terminal A and a subsidiary of Munich Airport International GmbH.

“This five-star rating places Newark Terminal A in a very exclusive North American club of two,” Kunz said.

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