What Is the Airport Fee on an Uber or Lyft Trip?

It is the Port Authority's ground transportation access fee. Since March 15, 2026, the Port Authority charges $3.50 for each for-hire vehicle pickup and $3.50 for each drop-off at its airports: JFK, LaGuardia and Newark. That includes Uber and Lyft. The fee goes up to $4.50 in March 2027 and $5.00 in March 2028. It is a fee on the trip, not a TLC fine and not a toll.

Source: the Port Authority's approved aviation fee changes, read October 12, 2026. This page explains the fee. It is not tax or legal advice.

The schedule

The full schedule for taxis and for-hire vehicles, and how it compares with other airport charges, is on the airport access fee page.

Pickup and drop-off: both are charged

This is the part that surprises people. For for-hire vehicles, the Port Authority lists a pickup rate and a drop-off rate. So:

• A trip to JFK is charged the fee once (drop-off).
• A trip from LaGuardia is charged once (pickup).
• A trip from JFK to LaGuardia is charged twice. In TLC's trip records for April to August 2026, almost every app trip with a $7.00 airport fee started at one NYC-area airport and ended at another.

Yellow taxis are different. TLC's fare page lists the taxi fee as "$2.00 for pick up only at LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy Airports." A taxi dropping off pays no access fee.

Where it shows up in data and on statements

TLC's HVFHV data dictionary has a field called airport_fee, described as "$2.50 for both drop off and pick up at LaGuardia, Newark, and John F. Kennedy airports." That description is older than the March 2026 increase. In the actual trip files, the fee on most app airport trips changed from $2.50 to $3.50 in mid-March 2026 (our count from TLC's trip record files). The data also has a separate field for driver pay, which TLC defines as "total driver pay (not including tolls or tips and net of commission, surcharges, or taxes)."

On a rider receipt or a driver pay statement, the apps decide the wording. Look for a line that mentions the airport or an airport fee.

Does it come out of your pay?

We did not find an official Port Authority, TLC or app source that says who bears the access fee inside Uber or Lyft pricing, so we don't claim it. Two things are clear from official sources:

• TLC's minimum pay for app trips is a formula based on your trip miles and minutes (Rule 59D-22; TLC driver pay rates). The airport fee is not part of that formula.
• In TLC's records, the airport fee is recorded separately from driver pay.

If your statement seems to take the fee from your earnings, save it and ask the app. You can also contact TLC's Driver Protection Unit at (718) 391-5539 or driverprotection@tlc.nyc.gov about pay questions.

How big is this?

In TLC's records from September 2025 to August 2026, about 20.9 million app trips carried an airport fee, adding up to about $61.9 million. The breakdown by airport, direction and month is on airport fee trip statistics.

What to do next

• Waiting at the airport for a request? Follow the lot rules: can Uber drivers wait at JFK or LaGuardia? Accepting a request in a pickup area is a $250 TLC summons (80-19(f)).
• Never take a rider who walks up to your app car without a booking. At the airports that is 80-19(c)(2): $500 for a first offense. Taxi drivers have their own airport solicitation rule, 80-19(a)(4)(i).
• Compare the three airports: JFK vs LaGuardia vs Newark. For pay per airport trip, see airport trip economics, when pickups peak and where airport trips start. Yearly totals: NYC airport trip statistics.

More on the airports topic.