Raleigh-Durham Airport gains a mix of domestic routes in 2015 while charting solid passenger growth

Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) lost its hub status before the onset of the economic downturn and consolidation among the large US major airlines. But during the last few years its traffic levels have remained stable, driven in part by the metro area hosting numerous educational and research facilities that help to sustain a certain level of origin and destination traffic.

The airport is adding new airlines in 2015 including Allegiant and Alaska Airlines, expanding Raleigh-Durham's (RDU) offering to the US West Coast and Florida. United is also resuming service to Denver, and Southwest is adding service to Dallas Love Field. All of this bodes well for Raleigh-Durham to maintain or grow its current passenger levels.

Undoubtedly the ultimate prize for Raleigh-Durham is additional long-haul flights beyond its current service to London Heathrow. But similar to other US non-hub airports, Raleigh-Durham understands the competition to gain additional service is fierce, and securing new long-haul routes is a lengthy and challenging process.