Port Authority says August was busiest month ever for its airports

August has proved to be an august month for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

After dealing with snafus at Newark Liberty International Airport in the spring, the bistate agency said Oct. 1 that August 2025 was its airports’ busiest month ever as the four commercial airports collectively welcomed 13.8 million passengers. Several other airport records also were broken during the month, including a new all-time high level of international passengers. 

The other areas that the Port Authority oversees had a noteworthy August as well. Ridership on the PATH commuter rail jumped 7% from August 2024, while the Port of New York and New Jersey reported its second-busiest August ever. Vehicular traffic at the agency’s six crossings remained consistent with 2024 and pre-pandemic 2019.

August of this year was the busiest month ever at the Port Authority’s commercial airports, bolstered by the airports’ busiest Labor Day holiday travel period. The month’s total of 13.8 million passengers eclipsed the previous high of 13.7 million passengers from July 2024. This past August also saw more international passengers at Port Authority airports than in any other month in agency history at 5.5 million, an increase of 2.6%. 

August 2025 was the busiest month ever at John F. Kennedy International Airport, welcoming 6.2 million passengers, while LaGuardia Airport recorded its busiest August ever with 3 million passengers. Newark Liberty International Airport, which faced Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control staffing and equipment issues for much of the year, and the extended closure of one of its runways in the spring, marked its first month of year-over-year growth since January 2025. Its August total of 4.5 million passengers was 4% above August 2024.

August 2025 was the Port of New York and New Jersey’s second-busiest August ever as businesses continued to bring in more products as a result of global trade volatility. The month’s 835,845 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) was just 0.9% below the monthly record set during the pandemic cargo surge in August 2022. August 2025’s total was a 5.7% jump from August 2024 and an increase of 23 % from August 2019. 

The PATH commuter rail welcomed 5 million passengers in August 2025, a jump of 7% from August 2024. The total was 70.8% of pre-pandemic August 2019’s ridership. Average weekday ridership in August 2025 was 189,834 passengers, 8.1% above August 2024.

PATH moved a total of 39.5 million passengers over the first eight months of the year. This was 7.4% higher than the same period of 2024. This year’s total so far was 72.2% of pre-pandemic 2019’s year-to-date total. 

The agency’s six vehicular crossings served 10.9 million eastbound vehicles during August 2025. This was 2% above August 2024 levels and 0.6% below August 2019 levels.