2 airlines moving to old terminal at RDU airport. Here’s the latest lineup.
As Raleigh-Durham International Airport continues to attract new carriers and new flights, two airlines will be moving next month to relieve crowding in the main terminal.
Budget carriers Breeze Airways and Sun Country Airlines will move from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1.
Breeze, which flies to more than a dozen destinations from RDU, will make the switch on Tuesday, April 2. Sun Country, whose only RDU flight goes to its hub in Minneapolis-St. Paul, will move to Terminal 1 on Wednesday, April 17, said Michael Landguth, RDU’s president and CEO.
“The moves are being made to maximize gate space in both terminals, accommodate the airlines’ needs and prepare for continued growth,” Landguth said.
The changes will be reflected on airport signs and its website. But Landguth said passengers who accidentally go to the wrong terminal can walk through the parking decks that separate the two buildings — “a less-than-five-minute walk.”
Breeze and Sun Country will join three other airlines in Terminal 1: Southwest, Avelo and Spirit. The building has nine gates, compared to 33 in Terminal 2, which will continue to house a dozen airlines, including the two busiest, American and Delta.
RDU plans to begin increasing the number of gates in Terminal 2 later this decade, to 53 by 2050, by adding wings to the existing concourses. Before it can begin those additions, however, it must complete a new runway on the western side of the airfield and convert the existing main runway into a taxiway.
In the meantime, RDU is moving to enlarge what it calls the “landside” of Terminal 2 to add more ticket counters, baggage carousels and security checkpoints. Contractors are working on the final designs now, and construction is expected to begin in early 2025.
Terminal 1 was known as Terminal A when it opened in 1982. For a time, it housed most of the airlines doing business at RDU, while American operated a hub out of Terminal C. After American closed the hub, that building was demolished and replaced by Terminal 2, which opened in 2008.
For a long time, Southwest had Terminal 1 and five gates there all to itself. The airport opened four moth-balled gates in 2022 and had first Spirit and then Avelo join Southwest.
RDU plans to eventually add gates to Terminal 1, though planning for that expansion is still preliminary.
After steep declines during the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for travel from RDU has rebounded. More than 14.5 million passengers passed through the airport last year, exceeding the record set in 2019. Last month, more than 986,000 people flew through the airport, 10.7% more than the same month last year.
