Raleigh–Durham
International Airport
  • IATA: RDU
  • ICAO: KRDU
  • FAA LID: RDU
  • WMO: 72306
Summary
Airport typePublic
Owner/OperatorRaleigh–Durham Airport Authority
ServesThe Research Triangle Metropolitan Region of North Carolina
LocationCedar Fork Township, Wake County, North Carolina, U.S.
OpenedMay 1, 1943 (1943-05-01)
Focus city forDelta Air Lines
Operating base forBreeze Airways
Time zoneEST (UTC−05:00)
 • Summer (DST)EDT (UTC−04:00)
Elevation AMSL436 ft / 133 m
Coordinates35°52′40″N 078°47′15″W / 35.87778°N 78.78750°W / 35.87778; -78.78750
Public transit access GoTriangle: RDU, 100
Websiterdu.com
Maps

FAA airport diagram
Interactive map of Raleigh–Durham
International Airport
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
05L/23R 10,000 3,048 Concrete
05R/23L 7,500 2,286 Asphalt
14/32 3,570 1,088 Asphalt
05L/23R 10,639 3,243 Under construction (concrete)
Statistics (2025)
Total passengers15,644,658 00.11%
Aircraft movements218,737
Air Cargo (lbs.)175,332,528
Sources: RDU website[1]

Raleigh–Durham International Airport (IATA: RDU, ICAO: KRDU, FAA LID: RDU), locally known by its IATA code RDU, is an international airport that serves Raleigh, Durham, and the surrounding Research Triangle region of North Carolina as its main airport. It is located in unincorporated Wake County,[2] but is surrounded by the city of Raleigh to the north and east, and the towns of Cary and Morrisville to the south. The airport covers 5,000 acres (20 km2) and has three runways.[3][4]

As of 2025, RDU ranks 34th in passenger arrivals and departures in the US, offering passenger service to around 85 destinations, including 12 international destinations in nine countries.[5] It was the 35th busiest US airport by international passenger traffic in September 2025.[6] The airport serves 32 U.S. states, plus Puerto Rico, with Atlanta being the busiest domestic route, and New York metropolitan area having the most passengers per day.[7] As of 2025, Delta Air Lines has the largest market share, and Breeze Airways flies to the most destinations with 40.[8][9] There are nearly 600 daily aircraft operations.[10] The RDU Airport Authority is in charge of the airport facilities and operations and is controlled by a board of representatives from the counties of Wake & Durham plus the cities of Raleigh & Durham.

RDU is the second-largest airport in the state of North Carolina, behind Charlotte Douglas International Airport. The main catchment area comprises central and eastern North Carolina as well as parts of southern Virginia.[11] The airport is an operating base for Breeze and Endeavor Air, as well as a focus city for Delta Air Lines.[9][12][13] Breeze considers the area a key market.[14]

In 2025, RDU served a record 15.6 million passengers, which broke the airport's 2024 record of 15.5 million passengers.[1]

History

Founding

The region's first airport opened in 1929 as Raleigh Municipal Airport, south of Raleigh. 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.[15] 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 original Terminal 1 building was constructed in 1955, that previously served as a temporary structure for barracks for the prior United States Army air field.[16][17] 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.

Like many airports in the southern United States, it was operated as segregated facility with separate waiting areas for "White" and "Colored" people. It was later desegregated in the 1960s in response to protests by students at local universities.[18]

In the 1970s, the last decade before airline deregulation, Piedmont connected RDU to the North Carolina cities of Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, New Bern, Rocky Mount, Winston-Salem, and Wilmington. It also connected to Norfolk, Virginia; Richmond, Virginia; and Washington, among others.[19] United flew to Asheville, Charlotte, Huntsville, and Newark,[20] while Eastern flew to Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Washington,[21] and Delta flew to Chicago and Greensboro.[22]

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.

Terminal 1, previously known as Terminal A, was first opened in 1982.[23] Runway 5L/23R was completed in 1986.[24]

Hub years

American Airlines (AA) 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.[25] The December 1987 timetable shows AA nonstops to 36 airports and American Eagle prop nonstops to 18 more. In 1988, the first international destination was Paris-Orly with AA.[26][27] Caribbean destinations started in 1989, with routes to Bermuda, Cancún, St. Croix and St. Thomas.[26] The RDU hub operated at a loss even during its heyday in the early 1990s, like the hub AA had at Nashville.[28] AA'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 AA's hubs at Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago–O'Hare).[29] The hub faced intense competition from Delta and Eastern in Atlanta, Northwest in Memphis, and from USAir in Charlotte, as well as the short-lived Continental hub in Greensboro that opened in 1993.[30] AA began to consider closing the hub in late 1993. AA started serving London-Gatwick and discontinuing the Paris flight in 1994.[26] The London route was originally launched based on a purchasing commitment from GlaxoSmithKline, which has major offices at both ends of the route; the route is no longer dependent on GSK for revenue.[31] AA operations were reduced until June 1995 when they closed the hub.[29][30] In 1996, Air Canada became the airport's first international carrier with service to Toronto.[32] Canadian Regional Airlines also started service to Toronto in 1997.[26] Other brief international airports served via AA between late 1980s and mid 1990s include Grand Cayman, Nassau, and Saint Maarten.[27]

Midway Airlines replaced AA as the airport's hub carrier from 1995 until 2003.[33] In 1995, Midway had flights to Boston, Hartford, Long Island, Newark, in the Northeast; and to Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and West Palm Beach in Florida. They also served Cancún.[34] AA subleased its gates at RDU to Midway in order to repay $113 million in AA-guaranteed bonds that had been used to construct the hub facilities.[35] Midway suspended service for some time after the September 11, 2001 attacks, and ceased operations in 2002, filing for bankruptcy in 2003. The United Service Organizations opened a lounge in 2004.[36] The airport was briefly considered for a FedEx hub in 2006 before eventually opening at Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina.[37][38]

Recent history

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. AA moved to London-Heathrow from Gatwick in 2008.[26] 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 rebuild was completed in 2011, and was designed by Fentress Architects.[39][40] AA Admirals Club moved to Terminal 2 in 2008, with the rest of AA moving operations to that terminal.[41] Delta Sky Club opened in 2009, and expanded in 2016.[42][43]

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.[44] 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. Terminal 1 was renovated in 2014.[23] The US Airways Club merged with the Admiral Club also that year when US Airways merged with AA.[45][46] The airport restarted Paris service, this time to Paris–Charles de Gaulle in 2016 with Delta.[26]

In 2018, Delta Air Lines named the airport a focus city, 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.[47][48] Delta also maintains a satellite flight attendants base.[49][50] The United Club opened in 2019, which is the airports third passenger lounge.[45] Also that year, Air Canada Express started service to Montréal–Trudeau.[51]

All international flights were cancelled in 2020, due to COVID-19.[26] The AA flight attendant base transitioned to a satellite base, in 2021.[52] Both AA to Heathrow and Delta to Paris restarted in 2022.[26][53][54][55] Also in 2022, Icelandair started service to Reykjavík–Keflavík.

In November 2022, Avelo Airlines announced the opening of an operating base at Raleigh-Durham, with service started on February 15, 2023. The airline closed the base on January 28, 2026.[56][57][58]

Air France took over Paris service from Delta in 2023.[26] In 2024, expansion occurred with service to Mexico City via Aeroméxico Connect; Panama City–Tocumen via Copa Airlines; and Frankfurt via Lufthansa.[26] In 2025, the largest international expansion occurred with service to Toronto and Vancouver via mainline Air Canada; Montego Bay and Punta Cana via Avelo Airlines; a return to Bermuda via BermudAir; Calgary via WestJet; and Cancún via Aeroméxico.[26]

Endeavor Air, a regional airline for Delta, opened a crew base in the spring of 2025, with expected 130 to 170 employees.[59] The base also supports over 140 aircraft.[60] Additionally, RDU announced its fifth European flight with nonstop flights to Dublin expected to start April 13, 2026 via Aer Lingus.[61] Breeze opened an operating base in March 2026, with planned 200 pilots & flight attendants.[62][13]

Future

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 expansion of parking lots, expansion of both terminals, improvements to the taxiway layout, and the replacement 5L/23R runway. Terminal 1 is planned to expand to 24 gates, while Terminal 2 is planned to expand to 53 gates, with expected completion in 2032.[63][64] The existing runway 5L/23R will become a taxiway for the new runway. After modifying the planned runway length multiple times, the Federal Aviation Administration authorized the construction of the new runway on September 5, 2023.[65] 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 (3,243 m), and is anticipated to start paving in 2027, to be finished in 2029.[66][67][24]

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. RDU is also planning on expanding their customs and border protection center to accommodate the increase in international flights at RDU.[68]

Facilities

Runways at Raleigh–Durham International Airport
W Length Width E
05L → 10,000 ft
3,000 m		 150 ft
46 m 		← 23R
Terminal area
05R → 7,500 ft
2,300 m		 150 ft
46 m 		← 23L
14 → 3,570 ft
1,090 m		 100 ft
30 m 		← 32

Airfields

Runway 05L/23R is north of the airport terminals, while runways 05R/23L and 14/32 are south of the airport terminals. New runway 05L/23R is currently under construction north of the current runway 05L/23R.

Terminals

The airport contains two terminals with a total of 45 gates.[69] The terminals do not have an airside connection; passengers moving between the terminals may ride a shuttle bus or take the moving walkway through covered parking decks between the terminals. All non precleared international flights are processed in Terminal 2 and arrive into gates C21, C23, C24 and C25.

Cargo areas

The airport incorporates two cargo areas, North Cargo and South Cargo, with over 469,000 square feet of cargo space.[72][73] 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. Delta Cargo has capabilities for specialized pharmacy shipments.[74]

Maintenance base

Endeavor Air built a maintenance base in 2019.[75] No hangar is available for maintenance.[76]

Military

The North Carolina Army National Guard utilize an adjacent area to headquarter the 449th Combat Aviation Brigade & 1st Battalion (Attack Reconnaissance), 130th Aviation Regiment.[77][78][79][80] The unit houses AH-64 helicopters and utilize RDU airport.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

AirlinesDestinationsRefs
Aer Lingus Dublin (begins April 13, 2026)[61]
Aeroméxico Seasonal: Cancún[81]
Aeroméxico Connect Mexico City–Benito Juárez [82]
Air Canada Seasonal: Toronto–Pearson,[83] Vancouver[84]
Air Canada Express Montréal–Trudeau,[85] Toronto–Pearson[86]
Air France Paris–Charles de Gaulle[87]
Alaska Airlines San Diego (begins April 22, 2026),[88] Seattle/Tacoma[88]
American Airlines Charlotte,[89] Chicago–O'Hare,[90] Dallas/Fort Worth,[91] London–Heathrow,[92] Los Angeles,[90] Miami,[93] Philadelphia,[90] Phoenix–Sky Harbor[90]
Seasonal: Cancún,[94] New York–LaGuardia,[90] Punta Cana,[95] Washington–National[90]
American Eagle Chicago–O'Hare,[90] Nashville,[90] New York–JFK,[90] New York–LaGuardia,[90] Philadelphia,[90] Pittsburgh,[96] Washington–National[90]
Seasonal: Miami[90]
Avelo Airlines New Haven,[97] Rochester (NY)[98]
Breeze Airways Akron/Canton,[90] Albany,[99] Atlantic City (begins June 11, 2026),[9] Birmingham (AL) (begins July 3, 2026),[100] Columbus–Glenn,[101] Daytona Beach,[102] Fort Myers,[97] Hartford,[103] Key West,[104] Long Island/Islip,[105] Louisville,[106] Manchester (NH),[104] Memphis,[99] Newburgh (begins May 6, 2026),[107] New Haven,[108] New Orleans,[90] Ogdensburg,[109] Orlando,[99] Pensacola,[110] Pittsburgh,[111] Portland (ME),[103] Portsmouth,[112] Providence,[103] Provo (begins October 2, 2026),[113] Rochester (NY),[99] San Antonio (begins May 8, 2026),[9] San Diego,[114] Tallahassee (begins July 2, 2026),[115] Tampa,[116] West Palm Beach,[117] White Plains[118]
Seasonal: Bangor (begins May 6, 2026),[107] Burlington (VT),[119] Jacksonville (FL),[120] Madison (begins May 8, 2026),[9] Orange County (begins May 29, 2026),[107] Punta Cana,[121] Sarasota,[122] Syracuse,[123] Vero Beach (begins May 6, 2026)[107]
Copa Airlines Panama City–Tocumen[90]
Delta Air Lines Atlanta,[90] Boston,[90] Detroit,[90] Fort Lauderdale,[124] Las Vegas,[124] Los Angeles,[90] Miami,[124] Minneapolis/St. Paul,[90] New York–LaGuardia,[125] Orlando,[126] Salt Lake City,[124] Seattle/Tacoma,[124] Tampa[124]
Seasonal: Cancún,[127] San Juan[124]
Delta Connection Austin,[128] Cincinnati,[129] Indianapolis,[130] Kansas City,[131] Nashville,[132] New York–JFK,[133] New York–LaGuardia,[133] Newark,[133] Orlando,[134] Washington–National
Frontier Airlines Atlanta,[124] Boston,[124] Chicago–O'Hare,[135] Cleveland,[124] Dallas/Fort Worth,[124] Denver,[90] Detroit,[124] Fort Lauderdale (begins April 2, 2026),[136] Las Vegas,[137] Miami,[124] New York–LaGuardia,[124][90] Orlando,[124] Philadelphia,[124] San Juan,[124] Tampa[124]
Seasonal: Buffalo,[138] Cancún,[136][139] Houston–Intercontinental[140]
Icelandair Reykjavík–Keflavík[141] [124]
JetBlue Boston,[90] Fort Lauderdale,[90] New York–JFK,[90] San Juan[90]
Lufthansa Frankfurt[90]
Southwest Airlines Austin,[124] Baltimore,[90] Chicago–Midway,[90] Dallas–Love,[90] Denver,[124] Fort Lauderdale,[124] Houston–Hobby,[124] Kansas City,[124] Las Vegas,[124] Nashville,[124] New Orleans,[124] Orlando,[90] Phoenix–Sky Harbor,[90] St. Louis,[124] Tampa[124]
Spirit Airlines Fort Lauderdale,[90] Newark[124]
Seasonal: Detroit (begins April 16, 2026)[142]		 [143]
Sun Country Airlines Seasonal: Minneapolis/St. Paul[144] [145]
United Airlines Chicago–O'Hare,[90] Denver,[90] Houston–Intercontinental,[90] Newark,[90] San Francisco,[90] Washington–Dulles[90]
United Express Houston–Intercontinental,[90] Newark,[90] Washington–Dulles[90]
Seasonal: Chicago–O'Hare[90]
Destinations maps

Cargo

AirlinesDestinationsRefs
FedEx Express Indianapolis, Memphis, Greensboro[146]
FedEx Feeder New Bern[147][148], Jacksonville (NC), Wilmington (NC)[147]
UPS Airlines Louisville, Manteo/Dare County, New Bern, Philadelphia, Wilmington (NC) [146]
Quest Diagnostics Concord, Reading[149]

Statistics

Top destinations

Busiest domestic routes from RDU (January 2025 – December 2025)[5]
Rank City Passengers Carriers
1 Atlanta, Georgia 665,920 Delta, Frontier, Southwest
2 Charlotte, North Carolina 451,480 American
3 Orlando, Florida 345,270 Breeze, Delta, Frontier, Southwest
4 Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas 340,120 American, Frontier, Spirit
5 Chicago–O'Hare, Illinois 323,450 American, Frontier, United
6 Miami, Florida 319,240 American, Delta, Frontier
7 New York–LaGuardia, New York 314,470 American, Delta, Frontier
8 Boston, Massachusetts 313,990 Delta, Frontier, JetBlue
9 New York–JFK, New York 291,720 American, Delta, JetBlue
10 Newark, New Jersey 268,150 Delta, Spirit, United
Busiest international routes from RDU (January 2025 – December 2025)[150]
Rank Airport Passengers % change from 2024 Change in rank Carriers
1 Paris–Charles de Gaulle, France 75,749 33.93% Air France
2 London–Heathrow, United Kingdom 73,760 16.75% American
3 Frankfurt, Germany 46,513 67.42% Lufthansa
4 Toronto–Pearson, Canada 37,470 19.97% Air Canada
5 Reykjavík–Keflavík, Iceland 34,329 17.13% Icelandair
6 Panama City–Tocumen, Panama 28,470 111.88% Copa Airlines
7 Mexico City–Benito Juárez, Mexico 24,134 66.41% Aeroméxico
8 Montréal–Trudeau, Canada 14,206 66.52% Air Canada
9 Punta Cana, Dominican Republic 7,878 American, Avelo
10 Cancún, Mexico 6,595 63.67% 2 Aeroméxico, American, Delta
11 Calgary, Canada 5,907 WestJet
12 Montego Bay, Jamaica 5,223 Avelo
13 Vancouver, Canada 5,064 Air Canada

Annual traffic

Annual passengers at RDU, enplaned and deplaned, 1985–present[151]
Year Passengers Year Passengers Year Passengers
1985 2,771,009 2005 9,303,904 2025 15,644,658
1986 3,100,002 2006 9,432,925 2026
1987 4,854,073 2007 10,037,424 2027
1988 7,352,007 2008 9,715,928 2028
1989 8,594,671 2009 8,973,398 2029
1990 9,265,665 2010 9,101,920 2030
1991 9,381,586 2011 9,161,279 2031
1992 9,925,364 2012 9,220,391 2032
1993 9,695,886 2013 9,186,748 2033
1994 8,999,491 2014 9,545,360 2034
1995 5,937,135 2015 10,015,244 2035
1996 6,417,871 2016 11,049,143 2036
1997 6,724,874 2017 11,653,693 2027
1998 7,228,653 2018 12,801,697 2038
1999 8,941,775 2019 14,218,621 2039
2000 10,438,585 2020 4,883,913 2040
2001 9,584,087 2021 8,795,128 2041
2002 8,241,253 2022 11,842,330 2042
2003 7,912,547 2023 14,523,996 2043
2004 8,637,606 2024 15,475,466 2044

Airline market share

Largest airlines at RDU (January 2025 – December 2025)[5]
Rank Airline Passengers Share
1 Delta Air Lines 3,011,000 20.68%
2 American Airlines 2,720,000 18.69%
3 Southwest Airlines 2,109,000 14.49%
4 United Airlines 1,521,000 10.45%
5 Frontier Airlines 1,170,000 8.04%
Other[a] 4,024,000 27.65%
  1. Includes flights operated by American Eagle, Delta Connection, and United Express partner airlines. The specific airline total passenger numbers only include mainline operations.

Accidents and incidents

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

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