Teterboro FBOs: which terminal, and where you clear customs

Most private flights out of New York leave from Teterboro, and almost nobody who books one is told which building to go to. The answer is an FBO, a fixed-base operator: the private terminal, ramp and handling company that meets the aircraft. Teterboro has five of them, and its customs is a sixth thing again, run by CBP in two places that work differently.

This page sets out which terminal is which, how customs works on the way home, and the three questions that settle where your car should go. Lombardi Jet Services arranges flights from Teterboro most weeks, so this is the airport this office knows best.

The short version

• Five terminals, three companies. The FAA-sourced listing for Teterboro shows Jet Aviation, Atlantic Aviation, and Signature Aviation East, West and South.
• Meridian is now Signature. Signature completed its purchase of Meridian at the start of 2024; directories that still list Meridian separately are out of date.
• Customs keeps its own hours. CBP inspects arriving aircraft from 7:30 a.m. to 11:15 p.m., seven days a week, though the airport itself is attended around the clock.
• There are two customs facilities. At Jet Aviation on the south side, passengers leave straight from the inspection; at Hangar 1 on the north side, they reboard and taxi to their FBO.
• The operator usually picks the FBO. Ask which one is on the trip sheet, because that is the address for your car and your bags.

What is an FBO, and why does it matter to a passenger?

It is the building you walk through. An FBO sells fuel, parking, hangar space and handling to the aircraft’s operator, and runs the lounge, the front desk and the door to the ramp that passengers use.

For a passenger, the FBO decides three practical things: the address your driver needs, where you wait if the crew is still preparing the aircraft, and where your bags are loaded. On a domestic charter there is usually no TSA checkpoint in between; do you go through TSA on a private jet? explains the rule and the ID check the operator does instead.

Which FBOs are at Teterboro?

Five terminals, run by three companies, according to AirNav’s listing built from FAA data effective October 29, 2026.

Terminal	Company	What it is
Jet Aviation	Jet Aviation	FBO, and the site of CBP’s south-side inspection facility
Signature Aviation East	Signature Aviation	FBO
Signature Aviation West	Signature Aviation	FBO
Signature Aviation South	Signature Aviation	FBO
Atlantic Aviation	Atlantic Aviation	FBO

The count changed in 2024. Meridian, long one of Teterboro’s independent FBOs, was bought by Signature, which said on January 2, 2024 that the deal had closed and that Meridian’s Teterboro and Hayward, California bases had joined its network. Several directory sites still list Meridian beside Signature as a separate company. The FAA-sourced listing does not.

The airport itself belongs to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which sets the rules every FBO works under, from the noise limits on departures to the permission an aircraft over 100,000 pounds needs before it uses the field.

Who chooses the FBO?

Usually the operator. The operator buys the aircraft’s fuel and handling, often has an account or a fuel contract with one FBO, and plans the flight around it. Its handling and parking charges are built into the quote, and its terminal decides where you go.

So the question to ask is not “which FBO is best?” but “which FBO is this flight using?” The answer belongs on the trip sheet with the departure time, and it is the address to give your driver.

How does customs work at Teterboro?

Teterboro is a landing rights airport: an aircraft from abroad may land there only with CBP’s permission, requested in advance (19 CFR 122.14). CBP’s fact sheet for the airport, publication KTEB-1225 of December 1, 2025, sets the terms.

• Hours. CBP’s office is staffed from 7 a.m. to midnight. Arrival inspection runs from 7:30 a.m. to 11:15 p.m., seven days a week.
• Notice. A charter operator applies for landing rights at least 48 hours before the arrival (19 CFR 122.14(a)(1)(ii)). On the day, CBP’s procedure is that the crew secures permission to land at least two hours before departing the foreign airport.
• Tolerance. Permission is granted for an arrival time plus or minus 30 minutes. Outside that, the crew has to secure permission again.
• Passengers only. Teterboro is designated to process passenger flights; no cargo.
• Advance warning. CBP asks to be told about live animals, weapons, hunting trophies and commercial imports.

The practical consequence is the 11:15 p.m. edge. A return from London, Paris or the Caribbean is planned backwards from it, with a margin, and a flight that would land later is moved, not just delayed. The London route guide shows how that shapes a departure time from Europe.

Hangar 1 or Jet Aviation: which customs facility?

The operator chooses when it requests landing rights, and the two facilities treat passengers differently.

At Hangar 1, on the north side, the aircraft parks on the CBP ramp, everyone is processed inside, and then, in CBP’s words, “passengers must reboard aircraft at the conclusion of their inspection and taxi to their FBO”. Your car meets you at your FBO, after a short second taxi.

At Jet Aviation, on the south side, the aircraft parks in front of the CBP office and “passengers can depart direct from the FIS” once inspection is over. That is quicker if your car can meet you at Jet Aviation, and it means your car goes to Jet Aviation even if you left from another terminal.

Neither is better in general. If speed at the end of a long flight matters most, ask for the facility your car can reach; if you want to come home to the terminal you left from, Hangar 1 and a taxi does that.

What to ask before a Teterboro flight

1. Which FBO is the flight using, both ways? The outbound and return can differ.
2. On an international return, which customs facility has the operator requested? It decides where your car waits.
3. What is the planned landing time, and what happens if it slips past 11:15 p.m.? The answer should name a fallback, not a hope.
4. Is anything on board that CBP needs to hear about in advance? Pets, firearms and goods for resale all count.

What Jake does

Lombardi Jet Services is a broker, so the operator chooses the FBO and requests customs. Jake asks for both before the flight, puts them on the trip details with the times, and arranges the car to the right building at each end. He often meets the crew on the ramp at Teterboro.

For the other two New York airports, and how their customs hours compare, see where a private jet can clear customs in New York. For the full international process, from the eAPIS manifest to the return, see flying private internationally.