Teterboro Airport is a general aviation relief airport situated in the boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights in Bergen County, New Jersey.Directions to and from the Airport, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. Accessed July 7, 2008. "Teterboro Airport is located in the Boroughs of Teterboro, Moonachie, and Hasbrouck Heights in Bergen County, New Jersey." It is owned and managed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and operated by AFCO AvPORTS Management. The airport is in the New Jersey Meadowlands, north-northwest of Midtown Manhattan, making it popular for private and corporate aircraft. The airport has a weight limit of on aircraft, making it nonviable for any commercial service.
The airport takes up almost all of Teterboro and consists of : for aircraft hangar and offices, for aeronautical use and runways, and undeveloped. The airport has more than 1,137 employees, of whom more than 90% work full-time.
In April 2009, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that the airport had the third-highest rate of wildlife strikes of any airport in the United States, based on takeoffs and landings (43 per 100,000).
Teterboro is home to many private aviation charter companies flying both nationally and globally.
History Teterboro Airport is the oldest operating airport in the New York City area. Walter C. Teter (1863–1929) acquired the property in 1917, and North American Aviation operated a manufacturing plant on the site during World War I. After the war, the airport served as a base of operations for Anthony Fokker, the Dutch aircraft designer. The first flight from the present airport site was made in 1919. In 1926, Colonial Air Transport at Teterboro was the first private company to deliver mail by air.
During World War II, the United States Army operated at the airport. The Port of New York Authority came to a deal with Frederic Wehran on August 12, 1948 to purchase the airport for $3.015 million. At the time of the signed agreement, the Port Authority gave Wehran $100,000. The rest, official as of April 2, 1949, would be $1.4 million in bonds and $548,000 in cash. The rest would go to discharging the $967,000 mortgage on the airport. The Port Authority later leased it to Pan American World Airways (and its successor organization Johnson Controls) for 30 years until December 1, 2000, when the Port Authority assumed full responsibility for the operation of Teterboro.
Since 1977, aircraft greater than are not allowed to take off from Teterboro, effectively banning commercial service. In 2003, U.S. Congressman Steve Rothman helped authorize a federal bill codifying the ban, citing excessive noise in the surrounding residential areas.House Of Representatives Approves Rothman Measure To Keep Boeing Business Jet Out Of Teterboro , Steve Rothman press release dated September 10, 2003, accessed April 30, 2007. "In a critical step forward in his efforts to protect the quality of life of the people of Northern New Jersey, Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ9) last night got the U.S. House of Representatives to approve a measure he authored to stop the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from lifting the 36-year-old, 100,000 pound weight limit at Teterboro Airport."
In 2019, Teterboro Airport trailed Republic Airport in total number of aircraft operations by 46,047 (173,625 at TEB vs 219,672 at FRG), making it the second busiest general aviation airport in the region and fifth busiest airport when including operations from Kennedy Airport (463,198), Newark Airport (449,543), and LaGuardia Airport (374,539).
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the airport saw a significant drop in total number of aircraft operations, with a reduction in traffic to 86,465 (difference in 87,160 flights); however, Teterboro leads Republic Airport in transient flights, while Republic has more local general aviation traffic, with 165,250 flights during the pandemic.
Airlines and destinations Passenger
Facilities Teterboro Airport covers at an elevation of .
Air traffic control The airport's first air control tower opened in 1975. In October 2025, a new $73.4 million tower opened on top of a base.
Runways Runway 6-24 is long and wide, with High Intensity Runway Lights (HIRL). Runway 6 approach has an Instrument Landing System (ILS), and a Medium Approach Lighting System-R (MALS-R). Runway 24 approach is equipped with both a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) and Runway End Identification Lights (REIL) systems. Runway 6-24 underwent complete overlay and grooving in 1987.
Runway 1-19 is long and wide, with HIRL. Both runways 1 and 19 are equipped with REIL systems. Runway 1 approach is equipped with a VASI system. Runway 19 approach has an ILS, and a Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI). Runway 1-19 was overlaid and grooved in the summer of 2000, and included the installation of centerline and touchdown zone lighting. Runway 19 is the preferred runway for noise abatement procedures.
Aircraft In 2017, the airport had 178,369 aircraft operations, averaging 488 per day: 65.6% general aviation, 34% air taxi, 0.3% military, and <1% airline. 121 aircraft were then based at this airport: 81% jet, 10.7% helicopter, 6.6% single-engine, and 1.7% multi-engine.
Law enforcement
Since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, law enforcement at Teterboro Airport has been in the hands of the Newark Liberty International Airport Command of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department. In addition to normal uniformed patrol of terminals, concourses, and parking lots, the PAPD provides anti-crime plainclothes units, criminal investigative detective squads, counter-terrorism units, high-value cargo escorts and patrols, dignitary protection, passenger screening point protection and security, Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting and community outreach. The PAPD operates alongside partner agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the New Jersey State Police.
Other The Aviation Hall of Fame of New Jersey is on the airport grounds. Founded in 1972, it is the first state aviation hall of fame in the nation, honoring the men and women who brought outstanding aeronautical achievements to the state. The museum offers visitors an opportunity to view historic air and space equipment and artifacts, photographs, fine art and an extensive model collection. The library has more than 4,000 volumes and hundreds of aviation video tapes.Home Page, Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum of New Jersey. Accessed October 23, 2016.
Public transportation Teterboro Airport can be reached from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on New Jersey Transit bus routes 161 (regular service), 165 (limited weekday service) and 144 (peak periods weekdays). The Teterboro station is the closest rail station along NJ Transit's Pascack Valley Line, but Wood-Ridge station, along the same route, is also close to the southwest of the airport.
Notable incidents
In 1956 and again in 1958, Thomas Fitzpatrick flew stolen aircraft from Teterboro and landed them along city streets in the Washington Heights, Manhattan neighborhood. In June 1966, in Hasbrouck Heights, a two-engine Piper Aztec going to Teterboro Airport crashed, striking a tree and narrowly missing homes on Burton Avenue near U.S. Route 46 (US 46). The pilot sustained injuries including a skull fracture and was taken to Hackensack Hospital by ambulance. He was carrying film for Eastman Kodak. On September 23, 1981, a Ronson Aviation Bell 206B helicopter and a Seminole Air Charier Piper PA-34 airplane collided in flight over East Rutherford, about south of Teterboro Airport. The airplane had a flight plan to Teterboro from Syracuse, New York. The helicopter was inbound to Teterboro from Woodbridge, NJ. The two collided at an altitude of about . The helicopter fell into the Meadowlands Sports Complex parking lot, and both persons aboard were killed. The airplane, with about of its left wing and its right engine missing, made a gear-up landing in a marsh about east of the collision point. The pilot was seriously injured, and the passenger received minor injuries.Accident Report AAR82-06, National Transportation Safety Board, May 18, 1982. Accessed October 23, 2016. On December 9, 1999, a small plane crashed between two houses in neighboring Hasbrouck Heights, killing all four people aboard, injuring three people on the ground and setting a garage on fire. On March 9, 2002, a single-engine Cessna 210 with a flight plan to Montauk, NY, crashed shortly after takeoff about 2 p.m. killing the only occupant and pilot. Upon impact the plane skidded about before it burst into flames, narrowly missing cars on US 46 about away. On September 9, 2002, a Piper Saratoga carrying a Canadian family took off from Teterboro Airport and crashed into a housing development in Hunterdon County 10 minutes later. The parents were killed, and the two children were critically injured. The incident caused millions in damage. On February 2, 2005, at 7:18 a.m., a Bombardier Challenger CL-600-1A11, N370V, hurtled off a runway at Teterboro Airport, skidded across US 46 and slammed into a warehouse during the morning rush, injuring 20 people, 11 of them on the plane. The two pilots were seriously injured, as were two occupants in a vehicle. The cabin aide, eight passengers, and one person in the building received minor injuries. Five people remained hospitalized, one of them gravely injured. A 66-year-old Paterson man who was riding in a car the jet struck was on life support, authorities said. Later that year, Congress passed legislation authored by U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg that directed the FAA to install arrestor beds at all U.S. airports. On September 2, 2005, at 21:22 local time, a Cessna 177A, N30491, crashed in South Hackensack during an emergency landing at Teterboro airport. A Teterboro employee observed the plane descending toward runway 24, lost sight of it as it descended below the horizon, then saw two or three bright flashes. The pilot sustained fatal injuries and the passenger serious injuries. On October 11, 2006, a Cirrus SR20 took off from Teterboro and crashed in New York City at 2:42 pm local time. The aircraft struck the north side of an apartment building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan; it caused a fire in two apartments on the 40th and 41st floors, which was extinguished within an hour. The aircraft was owned and piloted by New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, who died in the accident along with his flight instructor. As a result of this accident the FAA established restrictions on flying up the East River. Two midair collisions have occurred over the Hudson River involving aircraft that departed from Teterboro, one in 1976, and one in 2009. As a result of the later accident the FAA came up with new guidelines for pilots flying the Hudson River, including mandatory reporting points and separating slower helicopter traffic from faster fixed-wing traffic via assigned altitude blocks. On August 21, 2009, around 3:00 a.m., a Beechcraft Baron crashed while attempting to land. The pilot and passenger survived but sustained burns requiring the attention of Saint Barnabas Medical Center's burn unit, the only one in the state of New Jersey. The plane was believed to have originated at Reading, PA, and was carrying blood samples for Quest Diagnostics, which had a lab on property adjacent to Teterboro Airport. On December 20, 2011, a single-engine TBM700 crashed on Interstate 287 near Morristown after leaving Teterboro Airport headed for Georgia. Five people, including a family of four and one other passenger, were killed.