One of our newest air carriers is already our largest, by one important metric
RDU International has continued to grow — in terms of flights, nonstop destinations, and carriers.
To that point, we have been pleased to see the various carriers serving RDU continue to expand their offerings here, because that has provided both increased connectivity and competitive balance. Unlike many other airports, no carrier controls even 30% of the market at RDU, but six of them have at least 5% share (Delta, American, United, Southwest, Frontier, and Breeze as of earlier this year).
My understanding is that very few of our peer airports are in our very strong competitive balance position (i.e., with no one carrier at 33%+ market share, and more than 5 airlines with 5%+). I believe Tampa (TPA) also is, and perhaps Orlando (MCO) or Los Angeles (LAX).
RDU remains the second largest airport in North Carolina in terms of both flights and nonstop cities, behind only Charlotte. RDU is state’s largest airport in terms of the total number of air carriers.
One of our newest carriers is Breeze. 3.5 years ago they had zero flights here. Today, they are our largest carrier by total number of nonstops.
In fact, if Breeze were the only carrier at Raleigh/Durham International, RDU would still have the second-most number of nonstop destinations of any airport in North Carolina, behind only Charlotte.
RDU will also be the largest airport in the Breeze network by this summer based on total number of weekly flights. This Triangle Business Journal article provides an excellent update.
The regional business community thanks and appreciates the leadership of the Raleigh/Durham Airport Authority in bringing new flights and airlines to create the balanced market share we enjoy, from both a business and broader community perspective. Thank you to both the professional leadership and the Authority board for advancing the air service offerings for our market.
Let’s get moving,
Joe
