Summary

• American and Delta services dominate the busiest routes at Raleigh-Durham International Airport this summer.
• AA’s flights between Charlotte lead the way in frequency and seats, followed by Delta’s Atlanta service.
• RDU’s Vision 2040 plan promises exciting expansions of airfields, terminals, transportation options and more.

Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) is currently undergoing an exciting period of growth as the original runway is being replaced with a new runway. The airport’s history stretches back over 80 years, beginning as a U.S. military base during World War II.

Since then, it has grown to become North Carolina’s second-busiest airport – behind Charlotte Douglas International Airport – and recorded its busiest year ever in 2023, with over 14.5 million passengers handled. Let’s take a look at the busiest routes from Raleigh-Durham this summer.

American and Delta routes at the top

According to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium American Airlines And Delta Air Lines The five busiest routes from Raleigh-Durham International this summer. The busiest is American Airlines’ 130-mile service between RDU and Charlotte Douglas International (CLT), which has an impressive 75 times per week, with 11 daily frequencies of the Airbus A321 on all days except Tuesday and Saturday, when 10 round trips are operated.

Delta’s 356-mile connection with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) – operated by a mixed fleet of A321s, Boeing 737s and 757s – is a close second with 73 weekly frequencies. These two routes are well ahead of the rest of the top five, namely:

• Delta Air Lines – to/from LaGuardia (LGA) with CRJ-900 – 45 weekly flights
• American Airlines – from/to Dallas-Fort Worth International (DFW) with 737/A320 family – 41 weekly flights
• American Airlines – to/from Philadelphia International (PHL) with 737/A319 – 41 weekly flights

In terms of weekly seat capacity, AA’s RDU-CLT continues to lead with 14,250 seats, followed by Delta’s service to Atlanta with 13,256 seats.

The best of the rest

American and Delta dominate the rest of RDU’s busiest routes, with only a few Southwest (to Baltimore/Washington) and JetBlue (to Boston) making the list. The top ten busiest routes overall are as follows:

Although not listed in the busiest frequencies table, United Airlines’ service to Newark Liberty International (EWR) with 29 weekly frequencies and 4,451 seats and Delta’s four-times-daily service to Minneapolis (MSP) with 4,315 weekly seats are worthy of honorable mention.

Exciting growth

RDU had its busiest year to date in 2019 with 14.2 million passengers, but the COVID pandemic led to an inevitable decline over the next few years. However, last year the airport surpassed its pre-pandemic highs with over 14.5 million passengers handled, and its growth is expected to continue.

The airport has unveiled its Vision 2040 master plan, which includes major investments in four main areas: airfield, airport terminals, ground transportation and general aviation. The airport has seen a welcome increase in international airline traffic in recent months, including Lufthansa’s new direct connection to Frankfurt (FRA) this summer (book your flights here) and Air France’s connection to Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) last November.