There were only modest ambitions for New York's airport when construction started in 1942. Just 1000 acres of marshy land was earmarked on the site of Idlewild golf course from which the fledgling airport took its original name.

It was formally dedicated as New York International in 1948 and the first commercial flights took off in July that year. Since then it has grown to nearly 5000 acres, undergone many changes and in 1963 acquired its present title - John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Passengers used a general terminal until the first dedicated facility Terminal One was built for Eastern Airlines in 1959. Over the intervening years JFK has sprouted a total of nine terminals and today the airport is in the process of a multi-million dollar development program which includes a new road and light rail system, and a major redevelopment of Terminal Four - the international terminal. The original Terminal One was replaced by a new building which opened in 1998.

The airport has been operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey under a lease with New York City since 1947. About USD$60 million was spent on the construction of the airport which it is now estimated generates USD$6.6 billion and 207,000 jobs in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan region.