– LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN –

For years to come, 2015 will be remembered at Raleigh-Durham International Airport for outstanding air service accomplishments. Our air service gains led a year of growth like none other in the recent past.

 

The year was also defined by our work in the community as we launched a new 25-year master plan and worked with local leaders to attract a second nonstop transatlantic flight to Europe with service to Paris that begins in May.

 

Launching new nonstop international service is a major endeavor and commitment for any airline. The support of community and business leaders in our region was critical to bringing nonstop service to Paris to RDU.

 

At the heart of that effort were funds from a public-private partnership overseen by the Research Triangle Foundation to ensure the success of new transatlantic service. We’re confident that this fund isn’t likely to be needed but helps strengthen the investment by the airline for new service in our community.

 

In addition to Paris, we launched nonstop service to Seattle as well as 8 other U.S. cities. We also welcomed both Alaska Airlines and Allegiant Airlines to the RDU family. As a result, our customers have even more opportunities to fly nonstop to cities around the world.

 

And while we had a year celebrating new air service opportunities, we also focused on the years ahead.

 

As our Vision2040 Master Plan has shown, the number of passengers traveling through RDU will grow at approximately 2 percent per year over the next 25 years. Vision2040 will help us identify development solutions for meeting this demand.

 

A key piece of the plan involves closely working with our local, state and federal elected leaders to help make the plans deemed necessary by Vision 2040 a reality. While we are largely financially self-supporting, RDU uses state and federal grants to maintain and expand our infrastructure, such as terminals and runways.

 

We’ve also worked with key stakeholders to  ensure that new and emerging transportation options are open to our passengers. RDU is proud to have had a leadership role in new legislation legalizing services such as Uber and Lyft.

 

Our vision is to deliver a world-class airport experience. Whether it’s through new air service or new ground transportation options, we are excited to do just that. And, I believe that 2016 is poised to bring us even greater things.

 

Fly Safe,

Dickie Thompson