Cathay Pacific to make big move in New York, opening first JFK lounge

Cathay Pacific is making big moves at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York.

The Hong Kong-based airline announced this week that it will be one of the opening anchor tenants at the airport’s new Terminal 6.

The move to Terminal 6, which is scheduled to open in early 2026, will mark a major change for Cathay, which currently operates from Terminal 8.

Want to know more specific airline news? Sign up for TPG’s free bi-weekly Aviation newsletter.

Terminal 8 is considered the Oneworld alliance hub at JFK. The primary tenant is American Airlines (a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance), and most of the other Oneworld airlines that fly to JFK have moved their operations there after a year. Recent modernization and expansion project completed by the US government and the airport in 2022. (Cathay moved from Terminal 7 to Terminal 8 in January 2017.)

Cathay’s move to Terminal 6 is largely due to the fact that the airline will be able to open its own exclusive lounge at JFK to serve the three daily flights to the airport. The airline did not share details about the space other than to say it will be nearly 10,000 square feet. The lounge at JFK will become Cathay’s second airport lounge in the United States following the lounge at San Francisco International Airport (SFO).

Many of the top international airlines want to control the entire premium passenger experience from start to finish, and opening lounges in remote terminals is a great way for carriers to do that. Plus, Cathay now needs to compensate Americans for the flyers they send out. Soho, Greenwich and Admirals Club lounges at Terminal 8, which is probably quite expensive since there are a lot of passengers eligible for lounge access flying on Cathay from New York.

Seat update: We got a glimpse of Cathay Pacific’s stunning new premium economy cabin

“We have long had the ambition to bring our customers the signature Cathay Pacific experience at JFK Airport. We are delighted to partner with JFK Millennium Partners to make this dream a reality,” Chris van den Hooven, Cathay Pacific’s senior vice president for the Americas, said in a statement about the move.

In addition to Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa Group, Aer Lingus and JetBlue have all shared their intention to operate flights from Terminal 6.

New Terminal 6 is part of The JFK transformation project is worth $19 billion Led by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the government agency responsible for managing the airport, the transformation includes two brand new terminals set to open in 2026.

Terminal 6 is the smaller of the two projects. Once complete, the $4.2 billion project will span 1.2 million square feet and feature 10 new gates — nine of which can handle wide-body jets. The new terminal will be connected to adjacent Terminal 5, which is home to JetBlue Airways’ JFK hub.

The remaining project is the construction of a new $9.5 billion Terminal 1, which will become one of JFK’s flagship international terminals.

The new Terminal 1 at JFK will combine the current and former sites of Terminals 1, 2 and 3 into a 2.4 million square foot international terminal that will serve as an anchor point on the south of the airport.

The first major milestone, including new arrivals and departures halls and the first 14 new gates, is expected to open in 2026. When fully completed in 2030, the new Terminal One will have 23 gates, Check-in was redesigned and the arrival space was overhauled.

“New York JFK is one of the flagship locations in our global lounge strategy. We are really excited about the opportunity to bring the signature Cathay Pacific lounge experience to our premium customers at this important port in our network. The new lounge will feature a number of lounges, including Vivian Lo, Cathay Pacific’s general manager of customer experience, in a statement. “These exciting developments will place it at the forefront of our lounge proposition and we look forward to sharing further details with our customers in due course,” said Cathay Pacific’s general manager of customer experience, in a statement.

Read more related: