There will be one fewer airline at RDU on Wednesday

Overhead signs on the road to Raleigh-Durham International Airport list the 10 airlines that serve RDU.

Overnight Tuesday, one of those names will disappear.

Virgin America will cease to exist as an airline brand on Wednesday, two years after Alaska Airlines announced it was acquiring the company for $2.6 billion. Any sign, message board, kiosk or ticket counter that still says Virgin America on Tuesday will be converted to Alaska Airlines by Wednesday morning.

The same process will happen at 28 other airports in the United States and Mexico.

Virgin America has one flight from RDU — a daily nonstop to San Francisco. Alaska Airlines also has one daily nonstop from RDU, to Seattle. Both will be Alaska flights now, though the airline says some planes bearing the Virgin America colors and logo will continue flying until next year.

Virgin America was founded by Richard Branson's Virgin Group, parent of Virgin Atlantic, in 2004 and began flying from its hub in San Francisco in 2007. The airline established its first and only flight from RDU in October, after it had been acquired by Alaska.

Alaska Airlines is the fifth largest U.S. carrier by passengers, after American, Delta, Southwest and United. It began offering daily nonstop flights between RDU and its hub in Seattle in 2015.

This story was originally published April 23, 2018 at 9:48 AM with the headline "There will be one fewer airline at RDU on Wednesday."