Make room for 2 more: How RDU aims to squeeze 14 airlines into its main terminal

The overhead signs at the entrances to Raleigh-Durham International Airport list the airlines in Terminal 2, and right now they’re full. At 12 airlines, there’s no space to add Lufthansa and Aeromexico, which begin flying from RDU next summer.

The signs are just one of the challenges the airport must overcome to fit 14 airlines into its main passenger terminal. The newcomers will also need ticket counters and access to one of the four gates at RDU that can handle incoming international flights.

Since the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, RDU has attracted eight new airlines and lost only one — Allegiant. Like the host of a Thanksgiving dinner, the airport must pull out chairs and new place settings and make room for each new carrier.

“The team has done a very good job of recruiting lots of airlines,” Michael Landguth, the airport’s president and CEO, said in an interview. “These are great problems to have.”

Triangle travelers have especially benefited from a slew of new international flights. By next summer, nine airlines will fly nonstop to destinations in Europe, Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.

But that bounty also poses a challenge.

Only four gates in Terminal 2 are capable of handling incoming international flights, by funneling passengers to Customs and Border Protection, which is only open between 11 a.m. and about 8 p.m., Landguth said. Making sure each incoming flight has a spot will be harder when Lufthansa and Aeromexico make their debuts next summer.

“It’s all about gate management,” Landguth said. “We’ve got a whole team of people who manage that, monitor that, and we’re in conversations with carriers about it before they decide to come to the market.”

Ticket counter space is also tight in Terminal 2. In the short-term, RDU will ask carriers with counters to share a spot with the new airlines with which they have partnerships and code-sharing agreements. So Lufthansa will likely use a bit of United’s counter, while Air France and Aeromexico will bunk with Delta.

Longer term, RDU is planning to expand Terminal 2 to add another ticketing island and three more baggage carousels as well as more space for passengers in customs and the Transportation Security Administration checkpoints. The airport doesn’t expect to begin construction, though, until early 2025.

How about moving airlines to Terminal 1?

RDU will also look to move airlines from Terminal 2 to the much smaller Terminal 1. For a long time, Southwest had Terminal 1 and its five gates all to itself. The airport opened four moth-balled gates in 2022 and had first Spirit and then Avelo join Southwest.

One consideration is that Terminal 1 has no gates capable of handling international flights. Some airlines that don’t offer international service now may want to begin flying to the Caribbean or Mexico in the future, Landguth said, so it may not be prudent to move them.

“We are in conversation with the carriers to try to understand what their needs are,” he said. “We’re trying to understand how we can provide some relief in Terminal 2 and what would be the right match and mix over in T1.”

As for the signs listing the airlines in Terminal 2, RDU is working on that, too, Landguth said. It’s not clear yet if the brackets will hold a larger sign or if the airport will need to erect a second one.

But it will be fixed before Lufthansa and Aeromexico arrive next summer.

“We’ve got some time to figure that out,” Landguth said. “We’ll make sure that customers know how to get from point A to point B.”

Nonstop international destinations from RDU

Airlines offer nonstop flights from the Triangle to the following international destinations:

▪ Cancun, Mexico: Delta begins flying to Cancun Dec. 16, joining American and JetBlue with nonstop service to the Yucatan Peninsula.

▪ Frankfurt, Germany: Lufthansa will fly to Frankfurt five days a week year round starting June 6, 2024.

▪ Freeport, Bahamas: Bahamasair resumed twice-weekly flights between the Triangle and Freeport on Grand Bahama Island this fall, and they’ll continue until May 30, 2024.

▪ London, United Kingdom: American Airlines began flying nonstop from RDU to London’s Heathrow Airport in 1994.

▪ Mexico City, Mexico: Aeromexico will begin daily nonstop service to Mexico City Juárez International Airport on July 1, 2024.

▪ Montreal, Canada: Air Canada flies between RDU and Montreal on a seasonal basis. Those flights are scheduled to resume in May.

▪ Paris, France: Air France took over the Paris route that Delta Air Lines began in 2016. The airline will fly the route three days a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, until March 31, when it will become daily.

▪ Reykjavik, Iceland: Icelandair launched new flights to Iceland in May 2022, flying four days a week. The service is now year round and will operate daily starting May 20, 2024.

▪ Toronto, Canada: Air Canada flies twice daily between RDU and Toronto-Pearson International Airport.