RDU Airport, NC — Construction crews at Raleigh-Durham International Airport this week began putting up temporary walls in preparation for the demolition of the north concourse of Terminal C. The construction of the walls kicks off the preconstruction phase of the airport’s Terminal C redevelopment project. 

The temporary walls are being constructed on the baggage claim, ticketing and concourse levels of the terminal.  All preconstruction and demolition work will take place behind the construction walls. As a result, holiday travelers and airline operations will not be impacted.

Over the next two months, crews will relocate all utilities and the terminal’s IT infrastructure from the north to south concourse to ensure airline operations continue uninterrupted throughout the project.

American Airlines, American Eagle, United Express and Air Canada will continue to offer service in Terminal C.

Demolition of the north concourse is set to begin in January 2005. Over 150,000 square feet of the existing terminal concourse and 30,000 square feet of the existing ticketing and baggage claim areas will be removed during this process.

The demolition work is being led by D.H. Griffin of Raleigh .

When completed, major features of the terminal will include a new north concourse, expanded ticketing and security checkpoint areas and a new federal inspection facility for the processing of international flights.

American Airlines built the terminal in the late 1980s as a hub facility. At that time, it was estimated that only 20 percent of passengers would use the ticketing counters and security checkpoint. Eighty percent of the airline’s passengers never left the concourse since they were only connecting to other flights.

Today, over 90 percent of the airport’s passengers begin and end their trip at RDU. This unique traveler profiles requires adequate ticketing and security checkpoint areas to accommodate the number of travelers making their way from the ticketing area to the concourse.

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