The security area at T1 always makes me feel so claustrophobic. It's so so so bad and small and confined ... Even if flying La Premiere, this terminal just brings the mood down, it's such a downgrade from the BA lounges experience at T8 (even if I am absolutely not comparing the onboard product of the 2...)

I can't wait for the new expansion to open next year. It's kinda crazy that it will all be demolished very soon. I should go and pay my respect to some of the lounges there, one last visit and a drink for all the memories... all the bottles of wine at the AF lounge, watching planes taking off during the sunset hours, with the beautiful Jamaica Bay behind, the view from the LH lounge, staring for hours at these planes, standing right next to the nose of KE A380s. So many memories in that cramped terminal. So many airlines I saw for the first time out of T1 windows when I was a teenager, SV, MU ... and oh... all the hours of my life I've lost in that immigration queue... squeezed for hours by all the other Y peasants (only using this word because this how that line use to make me feel) arriving from Europe and Asia... learning from this guy how to say hello in different languages :





Or after passing the horrendous corridor, waiting in line in that modern church looking immigration hall, watching this video on loop for hours of happy migrants, perfect families, children smiling and playing in a beautiful farm, as if I had just arrived in the promised land ....


Ah... The T1 life changed so much over the years. I remember the days where you'd fly out of there on an A380 on NEV3 equipped cabin that looked so big it felt like you were in a movie theatre or a boat. The days of Aeroflot 777s... the days where the TK lounge was the AZ lounge. The days when the AF lounge had these plastic white and red chairs instead of the blue leather chairs ! So ugly and uncomfortable.

But yeah, being honest, there is not much I will miss about it. I'll go and put a rose on top of the rubbles when it's gone. After I tasted T4 with SkyPriority and DL for the first time I simply switched to DL and KL for flights out of JFK. (even if, in truth, the first time I experienced T4 was with LX.)

All of this rings true. What I�m constantly shocked by however is how poorly the planning for T1 was. It only opened 2 or 3 years before T4 but is already functionally obsolete

True (1998 vs 2001), but T4 has benefited from two significant extensions, one on the B gates side, and one on the A gates side, whereas T1 has had no room to grow since it was completed. I also feel like T1 was doomed from the start - the fact they built a "world class" terminal facility that requires tows to pull planes into stand feels like many poor design choices were made to squeeze in as many gates as possible. I also feel like T1 is not rightsized for it's current operational demands - it feels way way way way way way way over capacity with a significant number of airlines moving in beyond the original relatively small tenant list. Just my two cents!

It's just a mess from A to Z. Good memories of flights from the past notwithstanding, I can't for it to be raised to the ground and replaced by the new Terminal One.

Let's hope they will produce a miracle with the new T1 just as they have done with the new LGA Terminal B. I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined what would be possible to cram into so little space in so little time. And now it is a positively pleasant place to fly from.

Many memories of T1 as well, more so of the LH First Class Dining space on the top floor of the LH lounge. But even that, despite being supposedly a haven of tranquility, felt noisy, rushed, stressful, crowded. Air France lounge? Never a fan, certainly better than waiting in the gate area, but all areas, upstairs and downstairs and even the La Premiere lounge, feel cramped, unpleasant.

Security and immigration: frankly, since there is GE I would wish every country had the same immigration system as the US. I don't even show my passport anymore to enter the country! And security, yeah, not great at T1, although the VIP lane which can be used with certain airline status cards or with Priority Pass makes a big difference. But still, no real TSAPre, an overcrowded, smelly, stressful experience.

What will I miss most of the Air France T1 days? The flight to ORY...

Was going to mention the top floor of LH too�

sadly my country of origin never made it to GE

� and do not forget the famous SSC stationing at T1 JFK, landing daily at around 8:30am.
Perfect timing to get an in town breakfast after your caviar brunch at 18.000 meters altitude 😉

I understand the current T1 will be demolished ?
Even if I hate the security zone and the gate area, I will miss a lot the AF lounge. For me it represents the beginning of my work long-haul travel in J when this terminal opened and I was totally amazed by this world. Every time I pass though it, I am back to my young days
At that time, AF flights were all boarding from gates 1 & 2 just near the lounge entrance and it was very convenient.
And as Bullspread mentions : the view on the AF Concorde parked just a few meters away 😍
Before T1 opened, AF was leaving from an horrible terminal (I forgot which number).

Sadly, today is the 25th anniversary of the Concorde crash. At 16h45 exactly (Paris time), on it�s way to JFK.

After the accident, another Concorde, F-BVFC, remained grounded and was stored at JFK for 2 months.


AF, like most foreign carriers (except BA) I believe was using the International Arrivals Building in JFK. (That eventually was destroyed and became Terminal 4.)

Once the old terminal 1 was destroyed (ex-Eastern), I believe AF, LH, KE and JL all worked on and financed the new T1 concept. A cost repaid by the airlines over a a period of 25 years. (Coming to an end just about now.)

Does AF use the VIP ONE security lane for LP?

They do

Anyone hearing anything on the opening date for new T1?

The first phase is supposed to be done this year, but unclear what month. Would be great if it happened before the World Cup. The pace at which construction has progressed, especially considering that they're doing this in an active airport, has been impressive.

Recent article in the Times. Seems impressive.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/n...minal-one.html