Teterboro
Airport
The business aviation gateway to New York, twelve miles from Midtown. Two runways, no slots, and a 100,000 pound weight limit that quietly decides which aircraft can come and how much fuel it can carry.
Reviewed by Kevin Singh, Founder · Fact-checked against Icarus Jet fleet and airport operations data · Last updated 2 September 2026
The Airport
Teterboro at a glance
Teterboro carries the ICAO code KTEB and the identifier TEB. It sits in Bergen County, New Jersey, about twelve miles from Midtown Manhattan, and is owned and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
It is the busiest dedicated business aviation airport in the New York area and one of the busiest in the world. It is also one of the most tightly constrained, and almost none of those constraints are obvious from a runway diagram.
The Constraint
The 100,000 pound rule
Everything about operating into Teterboro starts here. No aircraft with an actual gross weight over 100,000 pounds may land, take off or taxi at TEB. That figure counts passengers, cargo, fuel and equipment, not just the empty aeroplane. Exceptions require the prior permission of the Airport Manager.
The rule is not a ban on large aircraft. An aircraft certified for a maximum design taxi weight above 100,000 pounds may still operate at Teterboro by restricting its actual operating weight to 100,000 pounds or less for each movement. What it requires is paperwork, and the timing is strict.
The filing. A completed Port Authority 100,000 Pound Aircraft Certification Form, together with weight and balance for both the planned arrival and the planned departure, must reach the Airport Manager and the servicing FBO no less than 72 hours before the scheduled operation. The Airport Manager confirms receipt in writing at least 24 hours before. Operators found in violation of the weight limit are subject to withdrawal of their Teterboro operating privileges.
What it catches. The top of the ultra-long-range market sits above the line. A Gulfstream G650ER is certified to 103,600 pounds and a G700 to 107,600 pounds. Neither is excluded from Teterboro, but both have to arrive and depart under a restricted weight, and weight restriction on a long-range aircraft comes out of fuel. On a transatlantic or long westbound departure that can mean a tech stop or a different airport entirely.
This is a planning decision, not a day-of one. It is the single most common reason a Teterboro trip has to be rethought, and the 72-hour window means it cannot be fixed on the morning of the flight.
Runways
Two runways, and why the published lengths mislead
Teterboro has two runways. 01/19 is 6,997 feet by 150 feet and 06/24 is 6,014 feet by 150 feet, both asphalt and grooved.
The pavement figure is not the planning figure. Both ends of 01/19 carry displaced thresholds, so the declared distances tell a different story. Runway 01 gives a takeoff run and takeoff distance of 6,997 feet, an accelerate-stop distance of 6,929 feet, and a landing distance available of 6,159 feet. Runway 19 gives 6,997 feet for takeoff and stopping, and a landing distance of 6,230 feet.
That is a gap of over 800 feet between the headline number and the runway you can actually land on. On a wet or contaminated surface in a New York winter, that difference is not academic. Runway 06/24 is more straightforward: all four declared distances are the full 6,014 feet in both directions.
Arresting beds. Engineered Materials Arresting System installations sit at the departure ends of runways 06, 19 and 24, measuring 250 by 170 feet, 355 by 162 feet and 348 by 162 feet respectively. They are an overrun safety feature rather than usable pavement, and they are part of why the declared distances read as they do.
Approaches. ILS/DME serves runway 19 and runway 06, and both are marked as precision instrument runways. Runways 01 and 24 are non-precision. The FAA records the RNAV (GPS) X procedure as the primary RNAV approach to runway 06. In poor weather the approach decides your runway, which then has to be reconciled with the noise rules below.
Noise
The night rules have teeth
Teterboro sits in dense Bergen County suburbs, and its noise programme is stricter than most crews expect.
There is no mandatory curfew. The airport is open around the clock and there is a voluntary restraint on non-essential flights between 2300 and 0600 local. The mandatory part is the noise limit itself.
Runway 24 departures may not exceed 80 dB(A) between 2200 and 0700, and 90 dB(A) at all other times. Every other runway, and the helicopter routes, carry a 95 dB(A) limit at all hours. Runway 24 is the noise critical runway and is treated accordingly.
Three violations in two years and the operator is banned from the field. That is unusual. Most United States noise programmes end in a fee or a letter. Teterboro’s ends in losing access, which is why the departure profile here gets briefed properly rather than treated as advisory.
Preferential runways at night. Between 2200 and 0700, aircraft over 12,500 pounds, jets and high-noise types are asked to request runway 01 for landing when traffic is northbound and runway 19 for departures when it is southbound. That routes the climb out over the Meadowlands rather than over housing. Stage 1 aircraft are not permitted at Teterboro at any time.
Customs
CBP hours are a hard planning constraint
Teterboro is a user fee airport with Customs and Border Protection on the field, and it is the normal first point of entry for business aviation arriving into New York from Europe.
CBP operates 0700 to 2400 local. The earliest available clearance is 0730 and the aircraft needs to be wheels down by 2315. Advance notice goes to CBP by email with the general declaration, and confirmation normally comes back within thirty to sixty minutes.
Outside those hours you need the Reimbursable Services Program. RSP funds officer overtime, has to be requested at least 24 hours ahead, and applications are processed only four times a year. Without an RSP arrangement already in place, an arrival landing after 2315 has to divert, in practice usually to Newark.
For an eastbound aircraft leaving Europe in the afternoon this is the constraint that most often moves the schedule. It is worth settling before the aircraft departs rather than negotiating in the air.
On the field
FBOs and ground
Five FBO facilities operate at Teterboro, run by four companies: Atlantic Aviation, Jet Aviation, Meridian, and Signature, which runs both the TEB South Terminal and TEB West. All handle business aviation and all sell Jet A. 100LL is also available on the field.
Fuel pricing varies noticeably between operators, which matters more here than at most airports simply because of the volume of traffic. Handling is not mandatory in the regulatory sense, though in practice every operation goes through an FBO.
One point that catches people out: acknowledgement of your weight certification by the Airport Manager is not confirmation that an FBO has agreed to take your aircraft. Those are two separate arrangements and both need to be in place.
Fire cover is provided under a FAR Part 139 Class IV certificate, with the FAA recording Index B equipment coverage at the field.
History
The oldest airport in the New York area
Walter C. Teter, a New York investment banker, acquired the marshland here in 1917. The first flight from the present site followed in 1919. The borough of Teterboro was incorporated the same year Teter bought the land, and took his name.
After the First World War the field became the American base of operations for Anthony Fokker, the Dutch aircraft designer, and it spent the interwar years as one of the busiest aviation sites in the region.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey purchased the airport in 1948, with the transaction becoming official in April 1949. It was then leased out for thirty years, and the Port Authority assumed full operating responsibility on 1 December 2000.
Teterboro is the oldest operating airport in the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area. The weight limit that now defines it was introduced to keep commercial service off the field, and the effect has been to reserve one of the best-positioned airports in the United States almost entirely for business aviation.
Nearby
Teterboro and the New York alternates
Teterboro is the default for business aviation into New York, and for most trips there is no argument. Where it fails, it fails for specific reasons, and each has a different answer.
Over the weight limit, or arriving after CBP hours. Newark is the usual answer. It has the runway, the customs hours and no weight restriction, at the cost of everything that makes a business aviation arrival pleasant.
Going to Connecticut, Westchester or north of the city. Westchester County is closer to those destinations than Teterboro and avoids the Hudson crossings entirely, which on a bad afternoon is worth more than the flight time.
Ramp full, or a noise-sensitive night departure. Morristown and Essex County both sit in New Jersey within reasonable driving distance and are considerably less congested.
Going to Long Island. Republic is the obvious field and Teterboro is the wrong side of the city entirely.
We are building out the New York area guides next. Until those are published, the comparison above is the short version we use when a Teterboro plan needs a rethink.
Airport guides & index
Questions
Teterboro, answered
Can any private jet land at Teterboro?
No, and this is the one thing that decides Teterboro more than anything else. No aircraft with an actual gross weight over 100,000 pounds, counting passengers, cargo, fuel and equipment, may land, take off or even taxi at TEB. Anything above that needs the prior permission of the Airport Manager. Plenty of ultra-long-range aircraft are certified above the limit and can still use the field, but only by restricting operating weight and filing for it in advance.
What is the Teterboro 100,000 pound rule in practice?
An aircraft certified for a maximum design taxi weight above 100,000 pounds may operate at Teterboro by holding its actual operating weight to 100,000 pounds or less for each movement. To do that you file the Port Authority 100,000 Pound Aircraft Certification Form together with weight and balance for both the planned arrival and the planned departure. It has to reach the Airport Manager and the servicing FBO no less than 72 hours before the operation, and the Airport Manager confirms receipt in writing at least 24 hours out. Operators found in violation face withdrawal of their TEB operating privileges.
Which aircraft does the weight limit actually catch?
The top of the ultra-long-range market. A Gulfstream G650ER is certified to 103,600 pounds and a G700 to 107,600 pounds, both above the line. Neither is barred from Teterboro, but each has to fly in under a restricted weight, and that restriction comes out of fuel. On a long westbound or transatlantic departure the practical effect is a tech stop or a different airport, which is a planning decision rather than a day-of surprise.
How long is the runway at Teterboro?
There are two. Runway 01/19 is 6,997 feet by 150 feet and runway 06/24 is 6,014 feet by 150 feet, both asphalt and grooved. The number that matters is not the pavement length. Both ends of 01/19 carry displaced thresholds, so runway 01 gives a landing distance available of 6,159 feet and runway 19 gives 6,230 feet. Runway 06/24 has its full 6,014 feet available in every declared distance.
Why does the landing distance differ from the runway length?
Because of displaced thresholds. The published 6,997 feet on 01/19 is pavement. The declared distances are what you actually plan against: runway 01 has a takeoff run of 6,997 feet, an accelerate-stop distance of 6,929 feet and a landing distance of 6,159 feet. That is 838 feet less than the headline figure. On a contaminated runway in winter that gap decides the aeroplane.
Is there a curfew at Teterboro?
Not a mandatory one. There is a voluntary restraint on non-essential flights between 2300 and 0600 local, and the field stays open around the clock. What is mandatory is the noise limit. Runway 24 departures may not exceed 80 dB(A) between 2200 and 0700, and 90 dB(A) at all other times. Every other runway and the helicopter routes carry a 95 dB(A) limit at all times.
What happens if you exceed the Teterboro noise limits?
Three noise violations inside a two-year period and the operator is no longer permitted to operate at TEB. It is one of the few noise programmes in the United States with a real ban attached rather than a fee, which is why crews brief the departure profile here properly rather than treating it as advisory.
Which runway will you get at night?
Between 2200 and 0700 aircraft over 12,500 pounds, jets and high-noise types are asked to request runway 01 for landing when the flow is northbound, and runway 19 for departures when it is southbound. That keeps the climb out over the Meadowlands rather than over housing. It is a preferential system rather than a hard assignment, but expect it.
Can you clear customs at Teterboro?
Yes. Teterboro is a user fee airport with CBP on the field, and it is the usual first point of entry for business aviation arriving into the New York area from Europe. CBP operates 0700 to 2400 local. The earliest available clearance is 0730 and you need to be wheels down by 2315.
What if you arrive at Teterboro after CBP hours?
You need the CBP Reimbursable Services Program, which funds officer overtime and has to be requested at least 24 hours ahead, with applications processed only four times a year. Without an RSP arrangement in place an arrival after 2315 has to divert, usually to Newark. This is the single most common reason a transatlantic arrival into Teterboro gets rescheduled, and it is worth settling at the planning stage rather than in the air.
Which FBOs are at Teterboro?
Five facilities from four operators: Atlantic Aviation, Jet Aviation, Meridian, Signature TEB South Terminal and Signature TEB West. All handle business aviation and all sell Jet A. Fuel pricing varies noticeably between them, and it is worth noting that acknowledgement of your weight certification by the Airport Manager is not the same as an FBO agreeing to take your aircraft. Secure the FBO separately and in advance.
Is ground handling mandatory at Teterboro?
No. Handling is not mandatory in the regulatory sense. In practice you are going to an FBO regardless, because that is where the ramp, the fuel and the customs coordination live.
Does Teterboro have slots?
No. Teterboro is not slot controlled. The gates on your operation are the weight limit, the noise rules, CBP hours and ramp availability, not a slot allocation. That said the field sits inside the New York terminal area, so departure delays from flow control are routine and are a separate matter from anything Teterboro itself imposes.
What are the approaches at Teterboro?
ILS/DME serves runway 19 and runway 06, and both are marked as precision instrument runways. Runways 01 and 24 are non-precision. The FAA also records the RNAV (GPS) X approach as the primary RNAV procedure to runway 06. In low weather your available runway is decided for you, which interacts with the noise-preferential runway system rather than overriding it.
Is there arresting material at the runway ends?
Yes, and it is worth knowing about. Engineered Materials Arresting System beds sit at the departure ends of runway 06, runway 19 and runway 24. Runway 19 has 355 feet by 162 feet, runway 24 has 348 feet by 162 feet and runway 06 has 250 feet by 170 feet. They are a safety overrun feature, not usable pavement, and they are one reason the declared distances read the way they do.
How far is Teterboro from Manhattan?
About 12 miles from Midtown, which is why the airport exists in the form it does. Drive time depends entirely on the Hudson river crossings and can swing from half an hour to well over an hour, so we plan ground transfers against the crossing rather than the mileage.
What else should be in the brief for Teterboro?
A few items off the FAA record. Stage 1 aircraft are not permitted at all. All aircraft are asked to avoid the hospital 1.7 miles north of runway 01/19. There is regular deer and bird activity on and around the field. Traffic pattern altitude is 1,500 feet MSL for large and turbine aircraft. The displaced threshold centreline lights on 01/19 are out of service indefinitely. And maintenance run-ups need prior arrangement with Airport Operations.
What time zone is Teterboro in?
Eastern Time, EST in winter and EDT in summer, which is UTC-5 and UTC-4 respectively.
Get Your Number
Request a Teterboro charter
Send the aircraft, the date and the routing. We will check the operating weight against the 100,000 pound limit, file the certification inside the 72-hour window if it is needed, and confirm CBP before the aircraft is committed rather than after.
Prefer to talk? Call +1 888 277 7203 or email charter@icarusjet.com. The desk is staffed 24/7.