In the past year, former C.E.O. of Google Eric Schmidt, television judge Judith “Judge Judy” Sheindlin, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates have purportedly stepped foot in East Farmingdale, a sleepy Long Island hamlet. But only for a few minutes.
For well-heeled jet-setters, East Farmingdale’s Republic Airport—37 miles and an 80-minute drive (depending on traffic) from Midtown Manhattan—is an increasingly attractive option. Although Republic doesn’t have the scene-y status of private airports such as Teterboro, in New Jersey, or White Plains, in Westchester County, it’s less expensive.
Garry Madolid, who runs one of Republic’s terminals, says renting hangar space at the airport is around 15 percent cheaper than at Teterboro and White Plains, which means saving tens of thousands of dollars a year. Madolid says even the wealthiest private-aviation customers have become more economical since the pandemic, when operating costs—such as for fuel and hangar spaces—ballooned.
Two private-jet owners have recently switched their hub from White Plains to his terminal at Republic, and three have joined from Teterboro, partly because of costs.
The caveat: Republic is about 30 to 50 minutes farther from Fifth Avenue than Teterboro and White Plains are. This is forcing penny-wise billionaires to do back-of-the-envelope calculations. If time is money, which option is truly cheapest?
To avoid hour-plus drives in traffic, Manhattanites sometimes take helicopters, rather than cars, to turn the trek into a 15-minute ride. Blade, the Uber of helicopters, has placed a Sikorsky helicopter at the airport “to accommodate the uptick in Farmingdale-to-Manhattan connections,” according to Lee Gold, a Blade spokesperson. Splurging on a helicopter costs around $2,500.
Globally, the number of private jets has tripled in just over two decades, according to a report from the Institute for Policy Studies. As a result, “there’s just not any more [hangar] space left at those other airports,” adds James Chitty, the head of private-jet-services company Talon Air, which is headquartered at Republic.
If time is money, which option is truly cheapest?
Private airports around New York City are more congested than ever. During private-jet high season—including the December exodus to Palm Beach and Aspen—delays are built into itineraries. “Teterboro and Westchester experience high volumes of traffic on peak days, such as Fridays and Sundays. This is exacerbated in the winter when inclement weather is prevalent,” says Gold. “Being stuck on the tarmac at Teterboro for two hours on a Friday in December is not uncommon.”
The private-jet crowd hasn’t entirely embraced Farmingdale’s two runways. White Plains and Teterboro have each had many days this summer with more than 200 scheduled flights, while Republic has had just under 50 scheduled flights departing every day for the last month, according to Flightradar24, an aviation-tracking company.
Some jet-setters house their planes at Republic Airport for the cheaper hangars but meet them at Teterboro or White Plains for the convenience. In those cases, their Farmingdale-based pilots fly for 20 minutes to pick them up at their preferred airport.
Modern Aviation, a private-airport-terminal company, is constructing two hangars at the airport, which are expected to be ready this winter. “There’s a ton of hangars that are being built, and they’re filling up very quickly,” says Chitty. Part of the popularity is thanks to new clientele: Brooklynites.
“There’s a little bit of a wealth shift,” says Chitty. “If you don’t have to cross a bridge, they’re much more apt to come here now than they’ve ever been before.”
Andrew Zucker works at a television-production company in New York City
