Raleigh–Durham International Airport

Early view of Raleigh–Durham Airport

The region's first airport opened in 1929 as Raleigh's Municipal Airport, south of town at 35.735°N 78.656°W / 35.735; -78.656. It was quickly outgrown, and in 1939 the North Carolina General Assembly chartered the Raleigh–Durham Aeronautical Authority to build and operate a larger airport between Raleigh and Durham. This was promoted by Eastern Air Lines, led by then chairman Eddie Rickenbacker, who wanted to make RDU a stop on the airline's New York–Miami route.

The new Raleigh–Durham Airport opened on May 1, 1943, with flights by Eastern Airlines. The passenger terminal was built from materials remaining after the construction of four barracks for the Army Air Forces Air Technical Service Command airfield.[6] The three runways the airport had in 1951 are still visible on the southeast side of the airport: 4500-ft runway 5, 4500-ft runway 18 and 4490-ft runway 14.

After World War II, Capital Airlines joined Eastern at RDU; Piedmont Airlines arrived in 1948. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 36 departures a day: twenty Eastern, eight Capital and eight Piedmont. Nonstop flights did not reach beyond Washington, Atlanta, or the Appalachians (but Eastern started a Super Constellation nonstop to Newark in 1958). The next airline (aside from United's takeover of Capital in 1961) was Delta Air Lines in 1970. In April 1969, nonstops didn't reach beyond New York or Atlanta, and Chicago was the only nonstop west of the Appalachians. RDU's first scheduled jets were Eastern 727s in 1965.

In the 1970s, the last decade before airline deregulation, Piedmont connected RDU to Charlotte, Greensboro, New Bern, Norfolk, Richmond, Rocky Mount, Washington, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.[7] United flew to Asheville, Charlotte, Huntsville and Newark,[8] while Eastern flew to Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond and Washington,[9] and Delta flew to Chicago and Greensboro.[10]

After deregulation, Allegheny Airlines arrived in 1979, and by 1985 Trans World Airlines, American Airlines, Ozark Air Lines, People Express, New York Air and Pan Am had all put in appearances.

American built a terminal at RDU between 1985 and 1987 to house a new hub, and flew to 38 cities when the hub started in June 1987.[11] The December 1987 timetable shows AA nonstops to 36 airports and American Eagle prop nonstops to 18 more. American later flew to London-Gatwick and Paris-Orly.[12] The RDU hub operated at a loss even during its heyday in the early 1990s, like the hub AA had at Nashville.[13] American's December 1992 timetable, around the time of the hub's peak, showed 211 daily departures to 64 destinations, almost all in the eastern United States (the westernmost destinations being American's hubs at Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago–O'Hare).[14] The hub faced intense competition from Delta and Eastern in Atlanta and from USAir in Charlotte, as well as the short-lived Continental hub in Greensboro that opened in 1993.[15] American began to consider closing the hub in late 1993; operations were reduced until June 1995 when American closed the hub.[14][15]

American retained a daily nonstop flight to London, which continued to operate until the COVID-19 pandemic and resumed in 2022.[16][17][18] The RDU-London route was originally launched based on a purchasing commitment from GlaxoSmithKline, which has major offices at both ends of the route; however, the route is no longer dependent on GSK for revenue.[19]

Midway Airlines replaced AA as the airport's hub carrier from 1995 until 2003.[20] In 1995, Midway had flights to Boston, Hartford, Long Island, Newark, Newburgh, New York, Philadelphia and Washington in the Northeast, and to Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach in Florida.[21] American subleased its gates at RDU to Midway in order to repay $113 million in American-guaranteed bonds which had been used to construct the hub facilities.[22] Midway suspended service for some time after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and ceased operations in 2002, filing for bankruptcy in 2003.

RDU Airport structure

RDU's post-hub years have brought the addition of new carriers and destinations, notably discount carriers such as Allegiant Air, Southwest Airlines and Frontier Airlines. Because of the economic downturn and high fuel prices in 2008, American ended most point to point flights it operated out of the airport. Several mainline flights were also dropped and service to other cities was reduced or downgraded. Other airlines also cut flights and destinations including United Airlines and US Airways. Also in 2008, the airport was modernized; the current rebuilt Terminal 2 opened, on the site of the old Terminal C that was built in 1987. The rebuilt was completed in 2011, and was designed by Fentress Architects.[23][24]

By 2010, RDU's traffic began to recover. In the first few months of the year, passenger numbers stabilized at RDU, ending the decrease the airport experienced in 2008 and 2009. In the first four months of 2010, 2.7 million passengers traveled through RDU.[25] Growth was flat compared to the same period a year before, but these signs were positive indicating that the decline was over. Airlines at RDU began to add new services to the schedule with both legacy and low-cost carriers significantly increasing service since the early 2010s.

Delta Air Lines maintains a focus city operation at RDU, which it decided to maintain in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic due to the area's strong economy and lack of a dominant network carrier.[26]

In November 2022, Avelo Airlines announced the opening of an operating base at Raleigh-Durham. The airline anticipates to have as many as 7 aircraft in the first 2 years and 50 crew members in the first year based at RDU. In a route announcement in March 2023, the airline announced a second aircraft was coming to RDU, as well as 35 additional jobs.

The Vision 2040 Master Plan details several major improvements that are aimed to be made by 2040. Proposed in 2017 by the RDU Airport Authority, the plan calls for major additions and renovations of current facilities at the airport. This includes the construction of a consolidated rental car facility, an on-site hotel, expansion of parking lots, expansion of both terminals, improvements to the taxiway layout, and the replacement of both runways. The proposal included lengthening runway 5R/23L to 9,000 feet and rebuilding runway 5L/23R to a length of 11,500 feet just northwest of its current position. The existing runway 5L/23R will become a taxiway for the new runway. After modifying the planned runway length multiple times, the FAA authorized the construction of the new runway on September 5, 2023. [27] The construction of RDU's new 5L-23R runway began on October 11, 2023. The new runway will be built at a length of 10,639 feet (3242.77 meters) and is anticipated to be finished in 5 years.[28]

In June 2023, the Airport Authority Board approved an agreement to advance the planning process for terminal 1 expansion to allow for future growth as RDU reached new passenger traffic records and destinations served.[29]

The airport contains two terminals with a total of 45 gates.[30] The two terminals do not have an airside connection; passengers moving between the terminals may ride a shuttle bus or take the moving walkway through the covered parking decks between the terminals. All non-pre–cleared international flights are processed in Terminal 2. [30] Both terminals are additionally served by GoTriangle's 100 and RDU Shuttle routes.

• Terminal 1 contains 9 gates, A1-A9. It is primarily used by Avelo, Southwest, and Spirit. [30]
• Terminal 2 contains 36 gates, C1-C25 and D1-D20. Terminal 2 is the only terminal at RDU that hosts international arrivals, utilizing gates C22-C25. Air France and Lufthansa will utilize these gates when they begin service. Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Bahamasair, Breeze Airways, Icelandair, JetBlue, and Sun Country primarily use Concourse C while Delta, Frontier, and United primarily use Concourse D. [30]

The airport incorporates two cargo areas, North Cargo and South Cargo.[31] The North Cargo terminal area is used by cargo airlines. The largest cargo operators are FedEx and UPS. The South Cargo terminal area is used by commercial airlines for cargo operations.