The John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, located in New York City, is the busiest airport in the New York air transport system, and of the biggest airports in America. Located in one of the busiest cosmopolitan cities in the country, the JFK International Airport is strategically placed as one of the chief targets for terrorist attacks in the heart of America. The airport, covering 1.5 million square feet, has six flight terminals containing 128 gates, responsible for about 800 flights a day (Kazda & Caves, 2015) . From a security threat assessment perceptive, this traffic in the airport makes it a prime target for any terrorist attack. Not only does this target the hub of the country’s economy, but also a wider population. Due to its central placing geographically, any attack on the airport could be detrimental to the rest of the country. Consider for instance the 2007 JFK International Airport attack plot which targeted the jet fuel supply tanks and pipelines feeding fuel to the airport through underground tunnels running in the densely populated areas of New York City.
When it comes to threat assessment, it is critical to consider the impact a terrorist attack conducting on the airport, or through the airport could have. With a flight handling capacity of about 800 flights a day, the airport attracts radicalized terrorists who target blowing airplanes. The greatest asset at risk in such a scenario would be American lives, considering that the airport’s two terminals handle the Airbus A380, with a flight capacity of 850 people (Kazda & Caves, 2015) . A security breach in the airport could result in an open fire in which hundreds of individuals would be injured, and dozens of lives lost. On the other hand, a terrorist attack, like bombing, targeted on the airport buildings could result in the destruction of property worth over 100 billion dollars. This is without forgetting the disruption of business in the facility, costing millions of dollars in the loss of revenue.
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References
Kazda, A., & Caves, R. E. (Eds.). (2015). Airport design and operation . Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
