Officials gathered Monday morning at Newark Liberty International Airport to celebrate two prestigious honors recently bestowed upon the new Terminal A.

As NJBIZ reported, Terminal A last month received a five-star rating by Skytrax, the preeminent aviation industry ratings firm. Just last week, at the 2024 Skytrax World Airport Awards in Frankfurt, Germany, the project was also honored as the world’s best new airport terminal.

“We had a plan. We had a plan that we were going to redo this airport – with the vision, the Port Authority vision,” said Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Chairman Kevin O’Toole, reflecting on the groundbreaking and topping out ceremonies for the $2.7 billion, 1 million-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility. “We kind of had a moment – what’s it going to be like? Is it going to be real? Is it going to make the Port Authority proud? Is it going to make New Jersey proud?”

He noted that he and other officials heard from the get-go that it had to have a New Jersey theme. O’Toole nodded to Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, D-29th District, who was on-hand for the ceremony and a staunch advocate for that Jersey flavor.

Dream come true

“It’s got a New Jersey theme. It’s got a Port Authority theme,” O’Toole stressed. “Six years later, look what we have. It’s amazing. It’s a credit to the people of the Port Authority — the 8,000-strong that made this thing a reality. Thank you very much to our wonderful employees – our contractors, our laborers. This is our dream. And this is what the Port Authority does best. Here’s the good news – we have set a standard: two five-star standards (LaGuardia as well). Now on to Terminal B. Now on to the Master Plan. This is our standard.”

“This is a great day. It’s a great day for the region. It’s a great day for New Jersey,” said Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton, one of the key stakeholders behind the project. “It’s a great day for Newark Liberty International Airport. It is a great day for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Because it celebrates what we are about, collectively. We are about being the best.”

Cotton said we should all be proud about this global honor.

“This terminal is a gamechanger – and that is what the Port Authority is about,” said Cotton. “The best – setting the highest standard possible and delivering.”

Show and tell

“Today is truly a reflection of ‘show them Newark, show them Elizabeth, show them the Garden State,’” said Ruiz. “And, of course, we would get the gold medal. We’ve known this in the state all the time – how infuriating for some of us to have walked through Newark Liberty International Airport and not be able to pick up one product that said that you were in the Garden State.”

Ruiz also spoke glowingly about the new terminal and its diverse offering of New Jersey products and food as well as artwork and signage.

“Now the entire world gets to see how great we are in this Garden State,” said Ruiz.

In his remarks, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-19th District, additionally stressed that point about the New Jersey sentiment in the terminal and how vital it is.

“This is a real testament to our state,” said Coughlin. “This is a real great introduction to people from throughout the world who are going to come here and start to appreciate what New Jersey is all about – not just be some joke line for a comedian. But look at what we offer in terms of commerce – and look at what we offer in terms of natural resources, in an incredible location. This puts it all together – and congratulations to everybody who was part and parcel of making that happen. It’s a true testament to what we can all accomplish together. Look forward to Terminal B and C.”

“It just gives us a sense of great pride,” O’Toole told NJBIZ following the ceremony. “The people of New Jersey deserve this. The Port Authority employees deserve this. It shows you what we are capable of doing when we all work in the same direction.”