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Passenger Growth Continues at RDU

Nov 18, 2010

Airport Authority finalizes plans for renovation of Terminal 1

RDU Airport, NC – In October, Raleigh-Durham International Airport posted a monthly gain in passengers compared to the same period last year. Throughout the month, 823,705 passengers traveled through RDU compared to 808,320 during the same month last year, an increase of nearly 2 percent. Year-to-date, the number of passengers traveling through RDU is up 1 percent compared to the first 10 months of 2009.

The statistics were released today at the monthly meeting of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority Board of Directors.

RDU also announced airline seat capacity increased in October. The number of seats available to passengers increased by 2.1 percent compared to the same period last year.

Throughout October, the amount of cargo shipped out of RDU decreased by 6.7 percent compared to the same month last year, while the amount of cargo shipped into RDU increased by 2.1 percent.

Airport Authority Finalizes Renovation Plans for Terminal 1
At today's meeting, Airport Authority staff announced plans for the renovation of Terminal 1.

The primary purpose of the $60 million project is to renovate the main section of Terminal 1, which today is the large blue building that has been in operation since the early 1980s. Major components of the renovation include:

  • Consolidating the multiple ticket lobbies, bag claims and passenger security screening checkpoints
  • Consolidating the operations of Southwest, JetBlue and Airtran into the main section of Terminal 1
  • Improving the passenger experience by simplifying the airline check-in and security screening process

Other changes to be made include: constructing new restrooms, developing a pre-security concessions area, reconfiguring the security screening checkpoint and constructing a meeter and greeter area. In all, staff provided a list of nearly 40 changes that would take place as part of the renovation.

Construction is set to begin in early 2012 and is expected to take approximately 18 months.

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