Airport Experience® News - Pre-Conference Issue 2026

LATEST BUZZ

CONCESSIONS OVERHAUL JFK T8 Is Nearing Completion Of A $125 Million Commercial Redevelopment

BY SARAH BELING

t’s no secret that John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) is in the midst of a sweeping

the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey for new concessions in August of 2021, but the conversation around upgrading T8’s offerings goes back to 2017-2018, says Hersh Parekh, deputy chief of intergovernmental affairs for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). “As part of [creating the JFK Airport Vision Plan], we wanted to make sure that as we were anticipating having new customers coming to Terminal 8, that we made sure that the concessions also were refreshed and that it wasn’t the same types of brands and concepts that you might see elsewhere across the country,” says Parekh, adding that the team wanted to make “an intentional effort to create something new and exciting on the commercial side of the of the terminal.”

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transformation, thanks to its $19-billion JFK Vision Plan designed to expand and renovate its current facilities. And as the Queens airport continues to repair, replace and refresh its terminals, the $400-million Terminal 8 (T8), funded by American Airlines and completed in 2022, will be the first to see a significant commercial redevelopment across its concessions offerings thanks to a $125 million program dedicated to bringing dynamic shopping and dining concepts to the terminal. The terminal’s concessions manager, ASUR Airports LLC (formerly URW Airports ), first responded to a concessions RFP sent out by American Airlines and

Above, Page 8: The rich roster of local brands in JFK T8 is complemented by a range of well-known national and international brands.

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AX NEWS FEBRUARY 2026