Newark Liberty International Airport (IATA: EWR, ICAO: KEWR, FAA LID: EWR) is a major international airport in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving the New York metropolitan area. The airport is located in both Newark and neighboring Elizabeth, straddling the boundary between Essex and Union counties Owned by the two cities, it is leased to its operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Located approximately 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of downtown Newark and 9 miles (14 km) west-southwest of Manhattan, it is a major gateway to destinations in Europe, South America, the Caribbean and Asia. It is the second-busiest airport in the New York airport system behind John F. Kennedy International Airport and ahead of LaGuardia Airport. The airport is near the Newark Airport Interchange, the junction between both Interstate 95 and Interstate 78 (both of which are components of the New Jersey Turnpike), and U.S. Routes 1 and 9, which has junctions with U.S. Route 22, Route 81, and Route 21. AirTrain Newark connects the terminals with the Newark Liberty International Airport Station, which is served by NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor Line and North Jersey Coast Line and Amtrak's Northeast Regional and Keystone Service. The City of Newark started building the airport in 1928 on 68 acres (28 ha) of marshland adjacent to Port Newark and U.S. Route 1. The Army Air Corps operated the facility during World War II. The Port Authority took over the facility in 1948, adding an instrument runway, a new terminal building, a new control tower, and an air cargo center. The airport's Building One from 1935 was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. During 2022, the airport served 43.4 million passengers, which made it the 13th-busiest airport in the nation, and the 23rd-busiest airport in the world. The busiest year to date was 2023, when it served 49.1 million passengers. Newark Liberty International serves 50 carriers, and is the largest hub for United Airlines by available seat miles. The airline serves about 63% of passengers at EWR, making it the largest tenant at the airport. United and FedEx Express, its second-largest tenant, operate in three buildings covering approximately 2 million square feet (0.19 km2) of airport property.
History In the 1920s, the Newark area, was the site of two airfields: Heller Field, which opened in 1919, and Hadley Field, which opened in 1924, that were used by the United States airmail service. Heller Field was the first official postal field for dedicated mail service in the United States. In May 1921, Heller Field was closed and all air mail services moved to Hadley Field, which by 1927 also served four airlines. The U.S. Postal Service, however, desired to have an airfield closer to New York City. In 1927, people and organizations, both national and local in scope, began calling for a new airport in the area of Newark, including Newark's mayor, Thomas Raymond. On August 3, 1927, Raymond ordered plans for a new airport. Construction, which was estimated to cost $6 million (equivalent to $111,206,897 in 2025), began on April 1, 1928, along US Route 1 and Port Newark. The construction involved a land reclamation project to create 68 acres (28 ha) of level ground, 6 feet (1.8 m) above sea level to prevent flooding, upon which a 1,600-foot (490 m) runway was to be laid. In addition to the 6,735,000 cubic yards (181,800,000 ft3; 5,149,000 m3) of earth required for the reclamation, 7,000 Christmas trees and 200 bank safes donated by a local junk vendor were used. The airport opened on October 1, 1928, dubbed the Newark Metropolitan Airport. It was the first major airport to serve the New York metropolitan area, the first commercial airport in the United States and the first with a paved airstrip. The first lease for space at Newark Airport was signed by Canadian Colonial Airways in April 1928.
The nation's first air traffic control tower and airport weather station opened at Newark in 1930. The Art Deco style Newark Metropolitan Airport Administration Building (Building 51), adorned with murals by Arshile Gorky, was built in 1934 and dedicated by Amelia Earhart in 1935. It was the first passenger terminal in the United States and featured a new air traffic control tower. It served as the terminal until the opening of the North Terminal in 1953. Construction of the Brewster Hangar began in 1937 and continued through 1938. This hangar was the most advanced of its time. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and is now a museum and Port Authority Police headquarters. Despite these innovations, critics said the airport was poorly designed because there was no separation of incoming and outbound passengers and no thought given to future expansion, though this did not stop Newark from being the busiest commercial airport. United Airlines, American Airlines, Eastern Airlines, and TWA signed 10-year leases with the airport that ended in 1938. Then they would pay on a month-to-month basis until LaGuardia Airport opened in December 1939; by the middle of 1940, all passenger airlines had left Newark, no longer making it the world's busiest airport.
World War II When the United States joined World War II in late 1941, the field was closed to commercial aviation, and it was taken over by the United States Army for logistics operations. The growing importance of supplying the overseas air forces and the need for more efficient control of supply shipments led to the activation of the Atlantic (and the Pacific) Overseas Air Service Commands on October 1, 1943. With headquarters at Newark, New Jersey (and Oakland, California for the Pacific Command), the Atlantic Overseas Air Service Command exercised control over the movement of Air Corps cargo through the ports of embarkation on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In 1945, captured German aircraft brought from Europe on HMS Reaper for evaluation under Operation Lusty were off-loaded at Newark, and then flown or shipped to Freeman Field in Indiana, or Naval Air Station Patuxent River in Maryland.
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