Number of Passengers Traveling Through Raleigh-Durham International Airport Grows Six Percent

RDU Airport, NC – Over 4.8 million passengers traveled through Raleigh-Durham International Airport during the first half of 2007 — a six percent gain over the same period last year. Nearly 10 million travelers are expected to pass through the airport by the end of December, making it one of the busiest years in the airport’s history. In 2000, RDU set a record when 10.4 million passengers traveled through the airport.

In the first half of the year, RDU also welcomed two new airlines, eight new destinations and 28 additional daily departures. Today, airlines serving RDU offer 243 daily flights to 46 destinations.

In May, ExpressJet launched service at RDU as a regional air carrier. The airline was followed in June by Midwest Connect, which returned to the airport after six years to offer nonstop service to Milwaukee.

In addition to Milwaukee, new cities added to RDU’s roster of nonstop destinations include Birmingham, Denver, Jacksonville FL, Kansas City MO, Louisville, New Orleans and San Antonio. Airlines also increased service to Boston, Cleveland, New York Kennedy and Philadelphia.

Later this year, the airport will also welcome back United Airlines. In 2001, the airline ceased operations at RDU. However, flights to Washington Dulles and Chicago O’Hare continued to fly under the United Express banner through the airline’s agreement with regional air carriers. In April, the airline began service to Denver and later announced it would return in September to manage its RDU operations. United recently transitioned several flights to Dulles and O’Hare from regional to larger mainline aircraft.

Today, nine major airlines and 18 regional carriers offer service from RDU.

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