Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport awarded 5-Star Airport Terminal Rating

Terminal B at LaGuardia  Airport has been awarded the highest global 5-Star Airport Terminal Rating from SKYTRAX and is named the World’s Best New Airport Terminal in the 2023 World Airport Awards

Opened in 2022, the 1.3 million square foot Terminal B LaGuardia Airport provides customers with a world-class experience, having spacious interiors, floor-to-ceiling windows, inspiring public art features, and iconic restaurants and shops. Of primary importance, the terminal delivers an easy and intuitive layout that is customer friendly.

“Our goal at the Port Authority was to completely transform the customer experience at LaGuardia, from curb to gate, by building a brand-new, world-class airport,” said Rick Cotton, Executive Director of the Port Authority. “Winning this prestigious award and becoming the first North American airport terminal to receive a 5-star rating from Skytrax proves that we have accomplished what many once said was impossible: elevate LaGuardia from worst to best.” 

“We’re thrilled that LaGuardia Terminal B was named the best new airport terminal in the world and received the first five-star rating for an airport terminal in North America by Skytrax, the leading authority in airport experience,” said Frank Scremin, CEO of LaGuardia Gateway Partners, the developer and operator of Terminal B.  “This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the LaGuardia Gateway Partners team as well as the entire Terminal community – the more than 5,000 individuals who come together to provide the best experience for our terminal guests.”

“This 5-Star Airport Terminal Rating is a fabulous achievement for Terminal B LaGuardia Airport, being just one of 22 airports and terminals worldwide to achieve our highest 5-Star Rating,” said Skytrax CEO Edward Plaisted. “This terminal provides an excellent range of passenger facilities, and particular standouts include very good standards of wayfinding and signage, high standards of staff service and some very nice design and art features. An important requirement that Terminal B fulfils to an excellent standard, is that the terminal has an easy and intuitive layout that offers true convenience to customers.”

With the opening of Terminal B’s second elevated pedestrian bridge in 2022, Terminal B LaGuardia became the first airport in the world to feature dual skybridges above active taxiways. The western skybridge spans 482 feet and offers passengers spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline.

A collection of public art installations feature in the terminal through a partnership with the Public Art Fund.

Terminal B is highly rated for its user-friendly terminal facilities, offering a very pleasant ambience across the different terminal areas and providing a comfortable and enjoyable Customer Experience.

The Terminal B Water Feature is the only one of its kind in the Americas and the only one in the world located in an airport. It is is the centerpiece of the airside main commercial area, and includes lighting, projection and audio. There are a series of shows that project onto the water feature and are choreographed with the water. The shows run continuously during terminal hours, with the two signature shows appearing every 15 minutes between 7am-10pm.

Terminal B features major permanent installations in the Arrivals and Departures Hall areas, commissioned by LaGuardia Gateway Partners in partnership with Public Art Fund. These include:

• Laura Owens’ tiled mosaic mural, spanning two levels is a celebration of New York City.
• Sarah Sze “Shorter than the Day” globe sculpture monumental sculpture evokes the passage of time through an intricate constellation of images that form a mirage-like sphere that appears to float in midair.
• Sabine Hornig’s transparent photo-collage fills an expansive glass façade, allowing sunlight to immerse visitors in a kaleidoscopic wash of color, image, and text as they move through the Connector.
• Dozens of colorful and reflective balloon-shaped steel sculptures by artist Jeppe Hein are distributed throughout Terminal B

THE 5-STAR AIRPORT RATING

The 5-Star Airport Rating is our most prestigious and unique mark of Quality Achievement and a global benchmark of Airport Excellence, which is awarded following detailed audit analysis and assessment of each airport’s product and front-line service standards. The World Airport Star Rating was introduced by Skytrax in 1999 and is a premier evaluation system grading airports on their quality standards.

Skytrax apply ratings for up to 800 customer-facing areas of airport product and service, and this spans numerous customer contact points. The Star Rating methodology is unified and consistent for the industry, and all airports from the largest hubs to small regional facilities are assessed using the same base rating criteria which covers the front-line customer experience on the end-to-end journey through an airport.

The 5-Star Airport Terminal rating recognises those airport terminals that are providing exceptional standards of facilities and staff service to customers across all front-line areas of the airport environment. To achieve the top 5-Star Airport Terminal rating, the staff service or product standards must be either meeting or setting global best practice for the item under evaluation.

About LaGuardia Gateway Partners

LaGuardia Gateway Partners (LGP) is the private manager and developer of the new award-winning, state-of-the-art LaGuardia Terminal B. LGP is composed of Vantage Airport Group, Skanska, Meridiam, and JLC Infrastructure for development and equity investment with Vantage Airport Group leading the terminal management.

LGP won the bid issued by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to deliver the extensive capital redevelopment project of LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B and provide world-class terminal facilities and operations for passengers and airlines. In 2022, the $5.1B project – a public-private partnership – finished on time and on budget.

LaGuardia Terminal B is home to Air Canada, American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines.

For more information, visit www.laguardiaB.com

ABOUT SKYTRAX

Skytrax, the International air transport rating organisation, was established in 1989 and is based in London, United Kingdom. The World Airport Rating programme is a leading international Rating system operating since 1999, which classifies airports across the globe by the quality of product and staff service

Skytrax apply ratings for up to 800 customer-facing areas of airport product and service, and this spans over 30 different customer contact points. The Star Rating methodology is unified and consistent for the industry, and all airports from the largest hubs to small regional facilities are assessed using the same base rating criteria which covers the front-line customer experience on the end-to-end journey through an airport.