The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has reported a strong start to 2025, with its commercial airports recording their busiest January ever. Approximately 10.7 million passengers passed through the airports in January, marking an increase of over 180,000 passengers compared to the previous record set in 2020. This figure represents a 3.5 percent rise from January 2024.
"The growth was driven by increases in both domestic and international travel," according to the Port Authority. However, this number is a 15 percent decrease from December 2024 as the holiday travel season concluded.
The PATH commuter rail system also experienced robust growth, serving 4.5 million passengers in January 2025, which is an 11 percent increase from the same month last year and reaching 70 percent of January 2019 levels. Weekday ridership saw a rise of 10 percent compared to the previous year, while weekend travel surpassed pre-pandemic levels with average Saturday ridership at 91,540 passengers—9 percent higher than in January 2019.
Meanwhile, the Port of New York and New Jersey recorded its busiest start since the pandemic cargo surge and its third busiest January overall by moving 720,747 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units). This represents an increase of 8 percent over January last year and a significant jump of 16 percent over pre-pandemic figures from January 2019.
The agency's vehicular crossings managed approximately 9.2 million eastbound vehicles in January, slightly below both January last year's levels by 0.6 percent and pre-pandemic levels by just under half a percentage point.
Data for traffic volumes by crossing will be available later following routine reconciliation procedures that ensure data accuracy.
