Newark Liberty International Airport
Facts on EWR
Newark Liberty opened on October 1, 1928, as Newark Metropolitan Airport — the first airport built for the New York area, the country's first commercial airport, and the first with a paved runway, built for about $6 million on 68 acres of reclaimed marshland.
Source: Wikipedia
The Art Deco Newark Metropolitan Airport Administration Building, completed in 1934 and adorned with murals by painter Arshile Gorky, was dedicated by Amelia Earhart in 1935; it became the first purpose-built passenger terminal in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Newark hosted the nation's first air traffic control tower and airport weather station when they opened in 1930, and in 1952 it became the first airport in the country to allow nighttime flights after runway lights were installed.
Source: Wikipedia
By the middle of 1940, every scheduled passenger airline had abandoned Newark for the newly opened LaGuardia Field, ending a stretch during which Newark — despite critics calling its layout poorly planned — had briefly been the world's busiest commercial airport.
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Three fatal crashes near Elizabeth, New Jersey, within two months of late 1951 and early 1952 killed more than 100 people combined and led the Port Authority to close Newark Airport for nine months while new flight patterns were designed to route planes away from the city.
Source: Wikipedia
After United Flight 93 departed from Newark on September 11, 2001, the airport was renamed Newark Liberty International in 2002 — beating out an initial proposal, 'Liberty International Airport at Newark' — honoring the attack's victims and the Statue of Liberty, 7 miles to the east.
Source: Wikipedia
Newark's three runways include 11/29, one of three built during World War II and still active today, plus 4L/22R, which after decades of extensions now stretches 11,000 feet; the airport covers 2,027 acres in total.
Source: Wikipedia
Newark Liberty's busiest year on record was 2023, when it carried 49.1 million passengers; United Airlines serves about 63% of them, making Newark its largest hub worldwide by available seat miles.
Source: Wikipedia