RDUairport

Terminal A will as of course like stated only get renovated. I believe the renovatioins made will help a lot to the terminal and how quickly passengers are able to get through. Before RDUAA bought terminal C from American Airlines there were plans to rebuild terminal A. It would have been made to ~900,000 sq feet just as terminal C will be now. Heres a picture of the proposed terminal A before acquiring terminal C.

Correct, after they have finished building the new terminal it will be named terminal 2 and terminal A will be renamed terminal 1. This will be nicer than A and B... no wait i mean C...

It isn't on the current drawing board as of right now. You could just say its been put to the side for now. The fact is that with the decrease in aircraft movements after 9/11 it was no longer justifible for the runway for the cost. I believe that if nothing bad happens to hurt our economy and nation for a while and the soon to be terminal 2 is completed we might see more talking about it again. Terminal 2 could very well become a catalys for a new runway if enough flights warrant it. I wouldn't look for it anytime soon though with the terminal construction costing a good pretty penny, a new runway can easliy cost just as much if not a bit more. But just a little information on it anyways, the runway would be 9500' long and be constructed between I540 and runway 23R/5L. This may seem like very little room to build a runway; however, the new runway would work with 23R/5L (one would be used for departures while the other is used for landings) and this would allow the runways to be much closer than the two current parallel runways are now.

WOW.... I'm a little skeptical on some of these routes. San Antonio, Jacksonville, Louisville, Birmingham are all sorta risky in my opinion. Note I'm not saying they can't be done because I'm sure with the right setup they can and I hope this is the case but I'm nervous this will be another move like Independence. There structure isn't the same but some critical aspect such as equipment being used is. That being said I welcome the new service with open arms and wish them the best of luck!! (sorry if this post came off sounding negative... just expressing some thoughts..)

That is correct they will be renamed Terminals 1 and 2. I wouldn't expect to see anything major for terminal A. With the cost of Terminal C's construction it'll be hard to justify hundred of millions for another new terminal, so I'd expect renovations.

Redman84, No actually I don't work at the airport but I'm a huge aviation buff for years, so I hear a lot of things. New York and Boston are two of the biggest markets out of RDU, and most flights to these cities are on regional jets which operate on sorta an hourly basis like a shuttle. Jetblue bringing in the larger ERJ-190 probably felt that these to cities would show the most sucess. I've also heard rumors about Jetblue introducing MCO (Orlando) from RDU. This may happen but I wouldn't get your hopes up high until Jetblue is the one to say so. I don't see Las Vegas on Jetblue's list of destinations only because they tend to work from there main stations and neither Las Vegas or RDU are one. Also with Southwest operating a LAS-RDU flight that would put them in direct competition with Southwest, which Jetblue seems to try to avoid. I don't want to speculate what would occur if US Airways/Delta reduced CLT opening it up for Jetblue only because I honestly don't know if Jetblue would make a move. (I don't like to start the rumors myself ) Hope this helps a bit.

I hate to say it but RDU's hub-like days are over for right now. The closest thing is American which depending on the date will sometimes consider RDU a focus city, not as much a mini-hub. I'm going to actually say that CLT would be more likely to have Jetblue make a major move because if the proposed US Airways and Delta merger were to actually happen, CLT would take a significant fall with ATL being so close. This has already been said by US Airways CEO. If that happened Jetblue would be able to take over CLT before any other of the low cost carriers. I still don't see this being very likely, but more so than RDU becoming a minihub.

Actually United is bring back this flight on mainline. It'll be flown with a Boeing 735. Its nice to see United back with mainline but this will be the only flight they use mainline on. As long as United Express workers that were once United workers before 9/11 are still at RDU United will only be allowed one mainline flight to RDU. Personally I think United picked the right route to use their one plane on. On another note American's service to STL will be upgraded this summer from 3 ERJs right now to 2 MD-80s and I believe 1 ERJ. This is really good news to hear.

Here are a few views of the terminal as of November 3rd. As you can see a lot of progress has been made lately. the roof is already going up! Sorry there aren't any clearer views. Maybe I'll be able to find somewhere better to take pictures from.

I'll see if I can get some shots of the construction process as it goes on and post them here. I go out to RDU as often as I can so I'll try to get some shots for everyone.

While taking pictures out at the observation deck on Friday, I noticed that three large mobile cranes are on site at terminal C. I'm very excited to see cranes and beams already moving! I wasn't able to get any photos of the site because trees blocked the site. They are now in the second phase of the terminal redevelopment based on a construction timeline found on the rdu.com site. http://rdu.com/airportdev/termc-faq.htm#howlong Also just another interesting fact, American flight 173, the RDU to London, Gatwick flight will be returning to the Boeing 777 on October 29th. Right now its being flown on a 767. Jetblue starts service to Boston on October 18th, with their EMB-190. Here are a few pictures I took while at RDU airport. (I hope everyone can see them...) Jetblue EMB-190 heading off towards JFK American flight 173, arriving from London, Gatwick. A Boeing 767.

I think this would be a good idea to really consider. One thing that has held the Transit line back is that there are so many different agencies providing transportation. This could help to bring them all on the same page. I could see it working just like an airline hub, except people would probably be more likely to move between different agencies to get where they need to go. This could also help bring more riders for a light rail line if it were to ever get built (I'm really starting to have my doubts... ). A transportation hub bad for close by businesses?... hmmm. never thought about it like that... maybe its because im not on drugs! Bad for business? I'm sorry I find it funny . If such a hub in Raleigh becomes bad for business, I will be more than happy to eat my own words.

That is very true. When people arrive at the airport in the future (once the terminal is complete) they will see a very nice looking building. People remember place that stand out from the average, such as denver's ticket/baggage/security center. I can't wait to see the finished project. As far as international flights however. The terminal will be able to handle more, but I wouldn't expect it to be from across the pond anytime soon. If you want international service try looking north toward Canada or south towards Mexico and the Gulf. I would be just as excitied as the next person to see another widebody coming into RDU from over seas, however I feel we are very lucky to have our wonderful American 777. I just thought I'd throw this in here since there is no where else to really put it. It might have already been posted but ILM (Wilmington, NC) will be recieving service to Bermuda which then continues onto London, England. The flight will operate into London's Stansted airport. The flight is by Maxjet Airways on its 767-200. The widebody is configured to only hold 90 seats!

I would like United to come back to RDU. Maybe after terminal C is done United will have a change in heart. It's a very good point with United relative to the unserved market. As noted, Delta will be flying RDU-LAX beginning this summer, and maybe it's just my gut instinct but I see DEN coming back within a year's time. As far as the bay area goes, I really don't know which airport, SFO or SJC, RDU will get service to. SFO has many more connection options across the west coast and international, however San Jose has a large Hi-Tech market like RDU, so I'm not going to throw out blind guesses to which is more likely. I'm just happy RDU is starting to see more west coast flights.

I'm rdu777. Same I don't post too often but read alot. Some interesting news to not get all too excitied about yet, but Virgin America has had their first plane painted and is closer towards operation. There have been a few rumors that we, at RDU, may see them. This wouldn't be for a few years is my guess. When the RDU-SFO market becomes to big to ignore, I would look for them to maybe make a move. I don't see this happening anytime soon, and United shouldn't be a player on that route since mainline doesn't fly to RDU any longer. AA could eventually be a player, however they just don't come to mind on a route such as RDU-SFO. Sorry for ranting..

It's a nice thought but would never work at RDU. The area where baggage claim, ticket, and security would have to be even larger than what is going into Terminal C. It would however be nice to update those three areas all at once , but it still wouldn't happen. The monorails would be way too expensive, and would run about 300 feet in either direction. Don't get me wrong having monorails running through RDU would be wonderful, but the RDUAA would not go for it. If you look at MCO (Orlando Int.) you see that the design is more useful when space is limited. MCO overview Still a nice thought

Out of the three airlines, United I would give another thought to... for now. Stranger things have happened, however I don't see them bringing mainline service back for now. I believe their ERJ-170s are mainline, which would be prefect for the route, but like I said. I could see either Southwest or Frontier going for RDU. I can't remember on Southwest's situtation concerning gate space at RDU, however I think if they wanted to start flying to RDU from DEN they could without any problem. Frontier may come to RDU quicker than expected due to Southwest being the new kid on the block in DEN. I'd like to see Frontier open up shop in RDU, but overall I'd rather just see a DEN-RDU flight. Both airlines are good, so it would be a win win situtation.

I know with the new merger between U.S.Airways and America West Airlines that CLT has become even more of a major player in their operations. With a third parallel runway in the works to help ease congestion, I began wondering about terminal space. I know that its become rare for CLT to have unused gates, and I remember coming across a forum that showed renderings of CLT with a new terminal, looking similar to United's terminal at ORD. Is this new terminal an actual proposal or was this just a rumor with a wonderful rendering. If this is actually being proposed how far along in the process is it?

I would say expect Frontier to open up shop at RDU within a year or two. The demand between RDU and DEN is there, however we just need the correct size plane to fly the route. United has a pattern of not reopening a station once it has pulled out, so United mainline isn't even a remote chance. When they tried putting the CRJ-700 on the route it was almost always full, however it was a weight restricted flight which hurt it to the point it was pulled. Frontier could bring in one of there A319s and do very well on this route. I would say Frontier isn't a matter of if but when.

TravisNC, Thanks for the picture. I'm glad someone knew where to find it. It would very nice to see this eventually happen. I guess something to look forward to way down the road. TravisNC are you also on a.net? Couldn't you imagine all the southwest tails on the northern end of that new Terminal A.

There used to be pictures and information proposing a new Terminal A. It nearly tripled the terminals size from around 300,000 sq feet to around 900,000 with ~40 gates. The rendering were very nice. But of course this was before RDUAA took control over terminal C and plans got bumped a bit. However I would except Terminal A to be in the crosshairs a few years after Terminal C's completion if the money is there.

This project is needed and can't be done by just adding a few new areas. The terminal has become quite old, even during its relatively short existance. Between the time when American Airlines pulled out and when RDUAA took over control the terminal sorta took a maintance nosedive in some aspects. With the new terminal check-in will be much easier with islands, and self check-in. Also the new terminal will allow security to become more efficient, with more lanes and room for machines. Once completed, more airlines will be able to more over to terminal C and use more gates if they please. In terminal A there have been times where airline expansion couldnt occur due to too few gates and slots. This should not be a problem anymore. Terminal A will not be torn down but as said earlier be updated. If the TTA regional rail ever makes it around, I think these projects could help to see a link to the airport earlier than would be without them.

With a look at building schools downtown, could this be a good place for one? It would be within a few miles of all the new residental buildings and any residental development on the same land. Shoot, with Wake county you just can't have too many schools it seems.