JetBlue Airways is developing a third phase to its expansion of terminal 5 at New York JFK International airport.

The phase would include new street-facing facilities, including additional ticket counter and security checkpoint space, connected to its under construction T5 international – dubbed T5i – project, says JetBlue chief executive Dave Barger at the IATA AGM in Doha. A connection to terminal 7 is also possible, he says.

T5i adds six gates capable of handling international arrivals, including three new gates and three converted ones, to the northwest side of T5. It includes a federal inspection services (FIS) facility capable of handling 1,400 people per hour.

New York-based JetBlue is on schedule to open T5i in the second week of November, says Barger.

The facility is expected to improve aircraft operations and the experience for JetBlue passengers at JFK. The airline will no longer need to tow aircraft from terminal 4 to T5 and passengers will no longer have to wait in queues behind other airline’s widebody arrivals.

JetBlue’s codeshare partners could join the airline in T5i. “We’re starting to plant seeds on that,” says Barger. “We would love to have a partner, two or more into the building.”

He adds that including codeshare partners in T5i would allow it to better utilise the FIS’s 1,400 passenger per hour processing capacity.

Aer Lingus and Hawaiian Airlines already operate from T5 at JFK.

JetBlue is investing roughly $200 million in T5i.

Source: Cirium Dashboard