Terminal 1 is an international terminal for Air France, Alitalia, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and others.

The terminal provides state of the art facilities, has 92 check-in counters, what is claimed to be the largest duty-free shop on the U.S. east coast, 15 retail stores, a cosmetic and skin care spa, a pub and wine bar, restaurants ranging from fast food to sushi and a business center with fax machines and data-modem outlets for personal computers.

Terminal 1, designed to handle 3.6 million passengers a year, has its own parking garage and is the first terminal reached from the Van Wyck Expressway.

Departing travelers enter a light-filled building with 50 feet high ceilings, glass walls, waterfalls and skylights. The check-in counters are in rows perpendicular to the terminal's front wall, a layout designed to reduce crowding. Immigration Service and Customs Service areas are open and bright, with big windows and a view of the skyline of New York.

Passenger comment about JFK - perhaps the busiest international gateway in the US - is not always favorable. "Congested, dilapidated and inhospitable" are descriptions in a recent newspaper story. The new Terminal 1 and the redevelopment of Terminal 4 will go a long way to improving conditions and public opinion.