FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2000
Media Contact: Mike Blanton, Public Affairs Manager
Phone: (919) 840-2100, ext. 207 Pager: (919) 981-2135

RDU expects more than a quarter million during holiday

RDU Airport, NC --- More than a quarter million passengers are expected to fly in and out of Raleigh-Durham International Airport between Wednesday, November 22 and Monday, November 27.

"The best single piece of advice we can offer to holiday travelers is to get to the airport early," said RDU public affairs manager, Mike Blanton. "Thanksgiving is typically a very concentrated travel period with most people flying the Wednesday before and the Sunday after the holiday."

Significant improvements have been made at RDU since last year's holiday season including the addition of more than 4,500 new parking places and the purchase of eight, new 40-passenger shuttle buses. RDU's new parking deck opened last summer and a new underground pedestrian tunnel connecting the deck to Terminal A opened last month.

The airport opened almost 2,000 new spaces last Friday in Park and Ride Lot 3 off National Guard Drive near I-40. These parking improvements bring the airport's total parking capacity to nearly 17,000 spaces.

In addition to arriving early, travelers are also reminded to bring government issued photo identification, to keep up with their luggage and to avoid leaving unattended vehicles parked at the terminal curbsides. For passenger drop-offs and pick-ups, airport officials are asking that customers use the hourly parking lots to help ease congestion in the terminal curb area.

For more information, visit RDU's website at www.rdu.com.