FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2000
Media Contact: Mike Blanton, Public Affairs Manager
Phone: (919) 840-2100, ext. 207 Pager: (919) 981-2135

RDU Records Passenger Growth

RDU Airport, NC --- Growth in passenger traffic at Raleigh-Durham International Airport continued its record pace for the first six months of this year. This can be attributed to competition between the 26 airlines serving RDU and the resulting low airfares. Strength in the local economy and increased demand for air service also have contributed to RDU's record growth.

More than five million passengers flew in and out of Raleigh-Durham International Airport during the first half of this year. Compared to the same period last year, this represented an increase of more than one million passengers, or 25.5 percent. To put these numbers in perspective, RDU had an increase in passenger traffic from January through June roughly equal to the population of the entire Triangle region.

To illustrate how competitive RDU's airline market is, six different carriers (taking Continental and Northwest together due to their operating agreement) carried between 11 percent and 18 percent of all locally originating and terminating traffic during the first half of 2000. US Airways had about 18 percent followed by Delta at 16 percent, Midway and American each at 13 percent, and Southwest and Continental/ Northwest each at 11 percent. "It's rare to find an airport of RDU's size with local passengers so well distributed among different major carriers," Airport Director John Brantley said. Load factors, or the average percentage of seats filled, are at all time highs at RDU.

A load factor of 80 percent is generally considered "full" by most airline and aviation industry standards. During June 2000, five airlines at RDU reported load factors for the month at or in excess of 80 percent. Those carriers were Southwest, American, Delta, Trans World and United.

The Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority is continuing it's major capital improvement and expansion program to accommodate the record numbers of passengers, cars and airplanes using the airport. RDU was ranked as the second fastest growing major airport in the U.S. last year and is well on the way to being at the top of that list again this year.