Raleigh-Durham International Ends 2006 With Increase in Passengers and Flights

RDU Airport, NC – In 2006, 9.4 million passengers traveled through Raleigh-Durham International Airport, an increase of one percent over 2005. The numbers were released at the January meeting of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority.

The one percent growth in passengers departing RDU reflects a nationwide trend by airlines to use smaller aircraft, thereby constraining the number of seats available to travelers. In 2005, the number of seats available on flights departing RDU fell 5.3 percent. However, the average load factor, which refers to the number of seats filled on a departing aircraft, rose from 71 percent to 76 percent.

Despite changes in the number of seats available, airlines serving RDU continued to add flights to popular business and leisure destinations.

Recognizing the demand for service to the west coast, Delta Airlines launched service to Los Angeles. The city was identified in a 2005 air service study as one of the top three destinations for which RDU travelers could support nonstop service.

In July, RDU welcomed JetBlue. The low-fare carrier offers four daily nonstop flights to JFK and one daily flight to Boston. Throughout the year, airlines also added flights to popular business and leisure destinations, including Tampa, Orlando, Boston, Philadelphia, Houston and Baltimore.

Today, RDU offers 229 daily departures to 38 cities.

RDU also posted gains in the number of taxi trips from the airport. Nearly 220,000 taxi trips were taken from the airport, a 7.8 percent increase over 2005. Parking in RDU’s hourly and daily lots was almost unchanged from 2005 with 1,988,345 vehicles exiting the public parking lots.

In cargo, enplaned air cargo fell four percent compared to 2005, while deplaned cargo fell less than one percent.

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