Raleigh Durham International Airport

The primary airport serving Raleigh, Durham, and the neighboring Research Triangle region of North Carolina is Raleigh-Durham International Airport, also known locally by its IATA code, RDU. Despite being in unincorporated Wake County, it is bordered to the north and east by Raleigh and to the south by the communities of Cary and Morrisville. The airport features three runways and 5,000 acres of space. By 2024, RDU will have more than 500 average daily aircraft movements and provide nonstop passenger service to 59 domestic and 10 overseas destinations. The RDU Airport Authority, which is governed by a board of members from the cities of Raleigh and Durham as well as the counties of Wake and Durham, is in charge of the airport's operations and facilities.

Immediately behind Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Raleigh–Durham International Airport is the second-biggest airport in North Carolina. It serves as Delta Air Lines' hub city and Avelo Airlines' operational base. With 14.5 million passengers serviced in 2023, RDU surpassed the 14.2 million passengers it had served in 2019. RDU declared nonstop service to Mexico City, Panama City, and Frankfurt, which will begin in 2024, joining the current global network. According to Airports Council International, RDU is the main airport in the United States with the second-fastest rate of growth in February 2000. Only Washington-Dulles International Airport has more passengers than RDU, with a 24 percent increase from the prior year. RDU adds 2,700 additional parking spots between the terminals when it constructs a $40 million terminal area parking structure in the first half of 2000.

Park and Ride 3 can accommodate 4,000 spots instead of just 2,000. In preparation for the winter vacation travel season in 2000, new spaces open. A total of fifteen additional stores and eateries will open as part of Terminal 2's second phase on January 24, 2011. Beginning operations in the newly constructed terminal area are US Airways and Continental Airlines. While AirTran Airways relocates to the ticket counter adjacent to Southwest Airlines in May 2011, JetBlue Airways moves to Terminal 2, and the two airlines get ready to combine. Beginning in July, Terminal 1 will undergo a $68 million makeover. The much-anticipated gateway to the West Coast and Asia will open with United Airlines' August 15, 2012, nonstop flights to San Francisco. September sees the launch of new Wi-Fi alternatives, including a free plan.