The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey today announced that its commercial airports recorded their busiest May of all time, boosted by record travel volume seen around Memorial Day. The Port of New York and New Jersey led the nation in cargo volume, posting its third consecutive month above 700,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). The PATH commuter rail saw its busiest month since the onset of the pandemic, surpassing five million monthly passengers, as well as serving the system’s highest average weekday ridership for any month since early 2020. The agency’s vehicular crossings continued meeting or exceeding strong benchmarks from 2023 and pre-pandemic 2019.
Airports
May 2024 marked the busiest May of all time for the Port Authority’s commercial airports. New monthly passenger records have now been set across seven of the last 12 months. In May 2024, approximately 13 million passengers were welcomed at the region’s commercial airports. This was an increase of about 74,000 passengers from the previous May record set in 2023. International passenger volume in May also rose 7 percent from May 2023, with Rome, London and Paris topping the list of most popular foreign destinations.
The total was boosted by a record Memorial Day holiday travel period. From May 23 to 27, more than 2.2 million air travelers flew through the Port Authority’s commercial airports. This surpassed the previous Memorial Day travel period record set in 2023 by about 45,000 passengers.
About 57.6 million passengers used the region’s commercial airports through the first five months of the year. The total outpaced the 57.1 million passengers recorded during the same period in 2023, which was the airports’ busiest year on record.
May’s passenger total was an increase of 7 percent, or about 873,000 passengers, from April 2024.
Port of New York and New Jersey
The Port of New York and New Jersey was the nation’s busiest cargo gateway in May. It handled 790,758 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), a 17 percent increase from May 2023 and a 23 percent jump from May 2019. It was also a 12 percent increase from the prior month as shipping activity began to ramp up ahead of peak season in mid-summer.
This marked the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year volume growth for the port. It was the third consecutive month in which container volume surpassed 700,000 TEUs. The Port of New York and New Jersey continued to handle cargo diverted from the Port of Baltimore prior to that port’s full reopening earlier this month, accounting for some of May’s cargo volumes.
May’s substantial total helped boost the Port of New York and New Jersey to its top national standing for the month and to become the second-busiest cargo port in the nation through the first five months of the year. Year-to-date, the port’s 3,501,676 TEUs represents a 12 percent increase from the same point in 2023, and a 15 percent jump compared to the first five months of 2019.
PATH Commuter Rail
May 2024 marked the first month in which the PATH commuter rail surpassed 5 million passengers since the onset of the pandemic. The system served nearly 5.1 million passengers in May. This was an increase of 5 percent, or about 254,000 passengers, from the previous post-pandemic monthly record set in October 2023. It was an increase of 11 percent from May 2023, and was 70 percent of May 2019’s total.
Average weekday ridership on the PATH system also reached a new post-pandemic high. In May 2024, PATH served 192,651 passengers on an average weekday. This was a 4 percent increase over the previous post-pandemic high for the figure recorded in October 2023. May 2024’s average weekday ridership was a 12 percent jump from May 2023 and was 67 percent of May 2019’s figure.
Ridership was nearly equal to pre-pandemic levels on weekends. Average Saturday ridership in May 2024 was 94 percent of May 2019 levels, while average Sunday ridership was 98 percent of May 2019 levels.
Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals
The Port Authority’s six vehicular crossings recorded about 10.7 million eastbound vehicles during May 2024. Traffic volumes were on par with both May 2023 and pre-pandemic May 2019. Average daily traffic volumes increased by about 10,200 vehicles from April to May.
Through the first five months of the year, traffic volume is consistent with totals from the same period in 2023 and pre-pandemic 2019.
