Raleigh Durham International Airport

Raleigh-Durham International is the fastest-growing mid-sized airport in the United States, handling 14.7M passengers (2023) and posting double-digit year-over-year capacity gains since 2021. Its scale is driven by the Research Triangle's concentration of biotech, semiconductor, and university employers — Duke, UNC, NC State, IBM, and more than 300 firms in Research Triangle Park — which collectively generate one of the densest business-travel markets per capita in North America. No single carrier dominates: Delta, American, United, Southwest, JetBlue, and Spirit each maintain significant RDU operations, a balance unusual for an airport of this size and one that keeps domestic fares competitive. International nonstops run to London–Heathrow (American, Delta), Paris–CDG (Delta), Reykjavík, Cancún, and several Caribbean points, with Air Canada, British Airways, and Icelandair rounding out the foreign-flag roster. Across 47 airlines the airport serves 175 destinations on 320 scheduled routes. Three runways handle movements — 10,000 ft 05L/23R and 7,500 ft 05R/23L for commercial traffic, plus a 3,570 ft crosswind strip 14/32 used for general aviation. Two terminals operate independently: Terminal 2, a 2011 Fentress Architects design whose wood-clad ceiling evokes the pine forests of the Piedmont, houses most airlines across 36 gates, while Terminal 1 retains nine gates for Southwest and Avelo. A five-runway, multi-decade master plan approved in 2022 will replace Terminal 1, extend 05L/23R to 11,500 ft, and add a parallel runway capable of handling widebody operations — anticipating RDU's trajectory toward 25M annual passengers by the late 2030s. Elevation is 435 ft (133 m).