The RDU Breakdown

Raleigh-Durham International Airport

After yesterday’s board meeting, I started looking at the passenger numbers for the first six months of the year. From there, I started thinking about how busy the first six months of the year have been. Airlines have added new service, despite the predictions, Terminal 1 looks nothing like it did before the New Year and we have received some mighty nice kudos.

So I thought I would break it down as a quick look back at the past six months.

As expected, the number of passengers traveling through RDU remains flat, reflecting changes in the aviation industry and the effects of the economic downturn. With that said, airlines serving RDU have added new service, telling us what we already knew: our region is strong and likes to travel.

The Numbers
All numbers are for January – June 2013.

Number of passengers departing RDU: 2,249,299

Departing passenger growth compared to 2012:   0.1%

Number of passengers arriving at RDU: 2,226,307

Decrease in departing passengers compared to 2012: -0.2%

Southwest has expanded service to Denver and St. Louis during the first half of 2013.
Southwest has expanded service to Denver and St. Louis during the first half of 2013.

The Air Service

  • Delta announces new, daily non-stop service to Salt Lake City and Philadelphia.
  • American begins non-stop service to Los Angeles on April 20, 2013.
  • Delta expands non-stop service to LA, offering early morning departures from RDU seven-days-a-week.
  • Delta begins service to Tampa and adds one daily flight to Orlando, just in time for spring break.
  • Southwest expands service to St. Louis and Denver, responding to increased demand to the two cities.
  • Frontier Airlines begins service to Trenton, N.J., offering an additional gateway to Philadelphia and Staten Island.

The Terminal

  • Construction on Terminal 1 continues. The blue panels, which once defined the terminal, are now a memory as stainless steel-like panels have replaced them.
  • Shops and restaurants for the new terminal are named, including the nation’s first ACC American Café and the first airport-based Char-Grill.

The Kudos

  • The Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority is named to the Triangle Business Journal’s list of healthiest employers in the Triangle.
  • CNN lists RDU as one of the world’s airports where the architecture soars.

We are excited about all of the things that have happened so far this year, and I, for one, am looking forward to the next six.