First ever animal airport terminal to open at JFK by 2016

Dog travel Image by Waldo Jaquith / CC BY 2.0

The first ever airport terminal for animals, dubbed ‘The Ark’, is planned for JFK Airport in New York.

The business people behind the scheme hope to open the terminal by 2016 at a projected cost of £32m ($48m).

Ark Development and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have agreed a 30-year lease for the projected 178,000 square feet development, the MailOnline reports.

More than 100 jobs will be created in the construction phase with forward projections estimating that £70m ($108m) will be generated in revenue over the 30-year lease period.

Both airside and landside services to board, kennel, quarantine, import, export and transport large and small animals will be provided in the terminal.

As part of the animal travel era, there will also be a Paradise 4 Paws kennels, an aviary and a veterinarian, all designed to relax the animals before they fly out.

Additional services will include transportation in dedicated climate controlled vehicles from aircraft, terminals, cargo facilities and other airport locations.

There will also be a livestock export handling system to allow for the safe and efficient handling of cattle, goats, pigs and sheep from truck to aircraft.