Opening of Newark Airport’s New Terminal A Delayed until January

The opening of Newark Airport’s new Terminal A planned for Wednesday has been delayed until next month due to delays in final certifications.

“While we had targeted the start of passenger operations at Newark’s new Terminal A for December 8th, the fire alarm and security systems have yet to pass their final tests. We expect these issues to be resolved shortly,” said Thomas Pietrykoski, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the three metro area airports.

“In response to concerns expressed by airlines about opening a brand-new facility during the peak holiday travel period, the Port Authority will open the new Terminal A to the public in early January,” he said.

The announcement comes after a public ribbon cutting ceremony by Gov. Phil Murphy and other officials, and tours of the lavish $2.7 billion terminal on Nov. 15.

The delay is the fourth time the opening of Newark Airports first new terminal in 50 years has been pushed back. In September, authority officials blamed supply chain problems and other elements pushing that opening back to the end of 2022

The first phase of the 1-million square-foot replacement for the existing Terminal A was originally scheduled to open in late 2021, a date that was pushed back after the COVID-19 pandemic to spring 2022 and then to summer.

The 33-gate terminal always has been scheduled to open in two phases, the first being the main terminal and its 21 gates, and the second phase which would open 12 more gates roughly 12 months after the opening of the main building and demolition of the old Terminal A.

The last pieces of structural steel for the new terminal were hoisted in to place in October 2019 during a topping off ceremony attended by Gov. Phil Murphy. By late July 2020, construction crews were racing to enclose the building so work on interior electrical, heating lighting and other work could continue during the winter.

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Larry Higgs may be reached at [email protected].