Quick answer: Terminal 8 is American Airlines' home at JFK and the airport's oneworld hub, used by 14 airlines including British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, Japan Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Cathay Pacific, Alaska and Hawaiian. It holds four lounges — the Admirals Club plus three joint American and British Airways lounges, Chelsea, Greenwich and Soho — and it has the cheapest terminal garage at JFK, the Red Lot at $74 per 24 hours.
This page covers Terminal 8 as it stands in August 2026: who flies from it, the lounges and the rather strict rules about which one you can actually enter, parking, and how to reach it. For the airport-wide picture see the JFK terminals guide; to check one specific carrier, the A–Z airline-to-terminal lookup is quicker.
JFK Terminal 8 at a glance
| Fact | Terminal 8 (2026) |
|---|---|
| Main airline | American Airlines; 14 airlines in total |
| Alliance | oneworld hub at JFK |
| Lounges | Admirals Club, Chelsea Lounge, Greenwich Lounge, Soho Lounge |
| Parking | Red Lot, $74 per 24 hours drive-up, from $62 prebooked |
| AirTrain | Own station; free to every other terminal |
| Also serves | Drivers for Terminals 1 and 7, whose own lots are closed |
Is American Airlines at Terminal 8 at JFK?
Yes, and all of it — American runs its entire JFK operation from Terminal 8, domestic and international alike. It is the airline's New York gateway and the anchor tenant, which is why the terminal's lounges, check-in layout and premium services are all built around American and its partners rather than shared evenly among tenants.
Is British Airways at JFK Terminal 8?
Yes. British Airways moved its JFK operation into Terminal 8 to sit alongside American, its transatlantic joint-venture partner, and the two airlines now run their premium lounges jointly rather than separately. If you are following an older guide that puts British Airways in Terminal 7, it is out of date.
What airlines fly from JFK Terminal 8?
Fourteen airlines use Terminal 8, almost all of them oneworld members or American partners. This is the most alliance-consistent terminal at JFK, which is what makes connections here comparatively painless.
| Airline | Note |
|---|---|
| American Airlines | Hub carrier |
| Alaska Airlines | oneworld |
| British Airways | oneworld; joint lounges with American |
| Cathay Pacific | oneworld; has announced a move to Terminal 6 |
| China Southern | |
| Finnair | oneworld |
| GOL Linhas Aéreas | |
| Hawaiian Airlines | |
| Iberia | oneworld |
| Japan Airlines | oneworld |
| LEVEL | |
| Qantas | oneworld |
| Qatar Airways | oneworld; has announced a move to the New Terminal One |
| Royal Jordanian | oneworld |
Which airlines are leaving Terminal 8?
Two of the fourteen have announced future moves — Cathay Pacific to Terminal 6 and Qatar Airways to the New Terminal One — and both are still checking in at Terminal 8 today. An announcement is not a move date. The terminal that counts is the one printed on your boarding pass on the day of travel, not the one in a press release, and this airport in particular has a long history of published dates slipping.
What lounges are in JFK Terminal 8?
Four, arranged as a hierarchy rather than a set of equivalent options. The Admirals Club is American's standard lounge. Above it sit three lounges run jointly by American and British Airways: the Soho Lounge and the Chelsea Lounge, both above Gate 14, and the Greenwich Lounge, above Gate 12. Greenwich is the rebranded former Flagship Lounge and is the main premium option; Chelsea is the most exclusive of the set, created to replace both American's Flagship First Dining and the British Airways Concorde Room.
All four are past security. Access is tiered by a combination of AAdvantage status, oneworld Emerald or Sapphire status, and the cabin you are flying that day — so which door opens for you depends on your specific ticket, not on a lounge membership alone. Our JFK lounges guide covers every lounge at the airport, including the paid day-pass options for travellers with no status at all.
Who can use the Chelsea Lounge at JFK?
The Chelsea Lounge is the most restricted lounge at JFK Terminal 8, reserved for the top of the cabin: American Flagship First and British Airways First passengers, and a narrow band of the highest oneworld status tiers, always on a qualifying same-day flight. An Admirals Club membership or a premium credit card will not get you in. Passengers in business class are directed to the Greenwich or Soho lounges instead, which are still a substantial step above the Admirals Club.
How do you get to Terminal 8 at JFK?
Terminal 8 has its own AirTrain station, and riding between JFK terminals is free — the $8.75 fare only applies if you join or leave the AirTrain at Jamaica or Howard Beach, where it connects to the subway and the Long Island Rail Road. Trains come every 5 to 15 minutes and the inter-terminal ride is under 10 minutes, so landing at the wrong building costs you minutes rather than a flight.
By road, Terminal 8 is signposted from the Van Wyck Expressway. Route options, times and costs from the city are in our JFK to Manhattan guide and AirTrain guide.
Where do you park for Terminal 8?
The Terminal 8 Red Lot is the cheapest terminal garage at JFK at $74 for 24 hours, or from $62 a day prebooked at least three hours ahead. It is also doing double duty at the moment: the Terminal 1 Green Lot and Terminal 7 Orange Lot are both closed for the airport rebuild, and the Port Authority redirects those drivers here, so a space is much less certain than it used to be without a reservation.
For a trip longer than about a day and a half the garage stops making sense — a week in the Red Lot is $518 against roughly $273 prebooked in the Long-Term Parking Lot, which reaches Terminal 8 on that same free AirTrain. Every lot and rate is in the JFK parking guide.
Arriving at Terminal 8
Terminal 8 takes a heavy load of long-haul arrivals from London, Tokyo, Doha, Madrid and Hong Kong, and those flights tend to land in clusters, which is when the immigration hall backs up. Mobile Passport Control and Global Entry both cut that queue substantially and are worth setting up before you fly — the customs and immigration guide explains who is eligible for each. Live inbound times are on the JFK arrivals page, and if you are connecting onward, minimum connection times at JFK is the realistic version rather than the airline's.
