Virgin Atlantic provided BAA, which ran both Heathrow and Gatwick on behalf of the UK government, and the Secretary of State for Transport granted permission. The Civil Aviation Authority also transferred two pairs of unused landing slots that British Airways held at Tokyo's Narita Airport to Virgin to let it increase its frequency between Heathrow and Tokyo from four to six weekly round trips, making it easier for Virgin to compete against British Airways. The then-chairman of BA Lord King called the CAA's decision, which the government had endorsed, "a confiscation of his company's property". In the year to October 1993, Virgin
Newark Liberty International Airport airline announced plans to leave JFK altogether and streamline its transcontinental operations at Newark. On July 7, 2016, the United States Department of Transportation announced that Newark was one of ten cities to first operate flights to José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba. , United carried 71% of the airport's passengers. The two next-busiest airlines, Delta Air Lines and JetBlue Airways, each had less than 5%. In 2016, the Port Authority approved and announced a redevelopment plan to build a new Terminal A to replace the existing, which opened in 1973. The new Terminal A is expected to cost