Summary
- American and Delta services dominate busiest routes at Raleigh-Durham International this summer.
- AA’s flights between Charlotte leads in frequency and seats, followed by Delta’s Atlanta service.
- RDU’s Vision 2040 plan promises exciting expansions in airfield, terminals, transportation, and more.
Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) is undergoing an exciting period of growth, which will include a new runway replacing its primary landing strip. The airport’s history stretches back over 80 years, beginning as a US Army base during WWII.
Since then, it has grown into North Carolina’s second-busiest airport – behind Charlotte Douglas International Airport – and recorded its busiest-ever year in 2023 with over 14.5 million passengers served. Let’s take a look at the busiest routes from Raleigh-Durham this summer.
American and Delta routes on top
According to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium,
American Airlines
and
Delta Air Lines
services make up the five busiest routes out of Raleigh-Durham International this summer. The busiest is American’s 130-mile hop between RDU and Charlotte Douglas International (CLT), which operates an impressive 75 times per week, with 11 daily Airbus A321 frequencies on all days except for Tuesdays and Saturdays, when it flies 10 roundtrips.
Photo: Philip Pilosian | Shutterstock
Delta’s 356-mile connection with Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International (ATL) – operated by a mixed fleet of A321s, Boeing 737s and 757s – narrowly comes in second with 73 weekly frequencies. These two routes are streets ahead of the remaining top five, which are:
- Delta Air Lines – to/from LaGuardia (LGA) with CRJ-900 – 45 weekly flights
- American Airlines – to/from 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
Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying
In terms of weekly seat capacity, AA’s RDU-CLT remains top with 14,250 seats, followed by Delta’s service to Atlanta at 13,256 seats.
The best of the rest
American and Delta dominate the rest of RDU’s busiest routes, with only solitary services from Southwest (to Baltimore/Washington) and JetBlue (to Boston) making the list. The top ten busiest routes in full are as follows:
Rank |
Airline |
Destination |
Length (miles) |
Aircraft Type(s) |
Flights (weekly) |
Seats (weekly) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
American Airlines |
Charlotte (CLT) |
130 |
A320 |
75 |
14,250 |
2 |
Delta Air Lines |
Atlanta (ATL) |
356 |
A321/B737/B757 |
73 |
13,256 |
3 |
Delta Air Lines |
LaGuardia (LGA) |
431 |
CRJ-900 |
45 |
3,384 |
4 |
American Airlines |
Philadelphia (PHL) |
336 |
B737/A320 |
42 |
6,476 |
5 |
American Airlines |
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) |
1,062 |
B737/A319 |
41 |
7,376 |
6 |
Southwest Airlines |
Baltimore/Washington (BWI) |
255 |
B737/B737 MAX |
37 |
5,771 |
7 |
American Airlines |
Miami (MIA) |
700 |
B737/B737 MAX |
35 |
5,872 |
7 |
American Airlines |
Chicago O’Hare (ORD) |
647 |
B737/E-170/E-175 |
35 |
4,023 |
7 |
Delta Air Lines |
John F. Kennedy (JFK) |
426 |
CRJ-900 |
35 |
2,660 |
10 |
Delta Air Lines |
Boston (BOS) |
612 |
A319/A220 |
33 |
4,116 |
10 |
JetBlue Airways |
Boston (BOS) |
612 |
E-190/A220 |
33 |
3,842 |
10 |
American Airlines |
Washington National (DCA) |
227 |
E-175/CRJ-900/A319 |
33 |
2,861 |
Photo: Sharkshock | Shutterstock
While not making the busiest frequencies table, honorable mentions include United Airlines’ connection with Newark Liberty International (EWR) at 29 weekly frequencies and 4,451 seats, and Delta’s four-times-daily service to Minneapolis (MSP) with 4,315 weekly seats.
Exciting growth
RDU recorded its busiest year up until that point in 2019 with 14.2 million passengers, but the COVID pandemic led to an inevitable drop over the next few years. However, last year, the airport eclipsed its pre-pandemic highs with over 14.5 million served, and its growth is set to continue.
Photo: Raleigh–Durham International Airport
The airport has launched its Vision 2040 master plan, which is set to pump major investment into four main areas – the airfield, airport terminals, ground transportation, and general aviation. The airport has seen a welcome increase in international carriers in recent months, including Lufthansa’s new direct connection with Frankfurt (FRA) this summer (book your flights for that one here) and Air France’s connection with Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) last November.