KLGA
La Guardia Airport
VFR
-
Name
La Guardia Airport
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ICAO / IATA / GPS
KLGA / LGA / KLGA
- Type
- Restriction
- Region
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Timezone
9:14 pm (EST)
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Municipality
New York
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Coordinates
40° 46′ 37″ N 73° 52′ 21″ W
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Elevation
21 ft (6 m MSL)
About La Guardia Airport
LaGuardia Airport (IATA: LGA, ICAO: KLGA, FAA LID: LGA) ( lə-GWAR-dee-ə) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the northwestern shore of Long Island, bordering Flushing Bay. Covering 680 acres (280 ha) as of January 1, 2025, the facility was established in 1929 and began operating as a public airport in 1939. It is named after Fiorello H. La Guardia, a former mayor of New York City.
The airport accommodates airline service primarily to domestic but also to limited international destinations. As of 2023, it was the third-busiest airport in the New York metropolitan area behind Kennedy and Newark airports, and the 19th-busiest in the United States by passenger volume. The airport is located directly to the north of the Grand Central Parkway, the airport's primary access highway. While the airport is a hub for both American Airlines and Delta Air Lines, commercial service is strictly governed by unique regulations including a curfew, a slot system, and a "perimeter rule" prohibiting most non-stop flights to or from destinations greater than 1,500 mi (2,400 km).
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, LaGuardia was criticized for its outdated facilities, inefficient air operations, and poor customer service metrics. In response, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) in 2015 announced a multibillion-dollar reconstruction of the airport's passenger infrastructure, which was completed in January 2025.