Information and Travel Guide for Raleigh Durham International Airport Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU)
Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU) is located about 10 miles south of Durham and 10 miles northwest of Raleigh. It serves the Research Triangle Metropolitan Region of North Carolina and is the hub for Ram Air Freight. It covers around 4929 hectares and has three operational runways and two terminals. Raleigh Durham International Airport has two passenger terminals, Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. Terminal 1 caters to AirTran Airways and Southwest Airlines. Terminal 2 caters to Air Canada, American Airlines, American Eagle, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways. There are connecting and direct flights all over North America, South America and Europe.
History
Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU) opened in May 1943 with flights by Eastern Airlines. The three original runways that were present in 1951 are still present and visible from the southeast side of the airport: runway 5, runway 18 and runway 14. In 2011, more than 9 million passengers used the airport.
Services and Amenities
There are many cafes, restaurants and juice bars in both terminals. Terminal 1 dining includes The Corner, Green Leaf's Grille and Starbucks; Terminal 2 dining is considerably more and includes California Pizza Kitchen, KFC Express and Carolina Ale House. There are many shopping opportunities in Terminal 1 and 2 and passengers can find a wide array of books, music, perfumes, cosmetics and travel items. Terminal 1 shopping includes Brighton and CNBC News and Terminal 2 shopping includes EJE Travel Retail (Duty Free) and Hudson News. High speed wireless internet services are available at RDU. It is provided by AT&T and Boingo at a fee.
Parking & Transportation
There are many onsite hourly and daily parking garages near the terminals with about 11,000 parking spaces available. There is no valet parking but there are four park and ride lots which are served by shuttle buses. Parking Lots 2 and 4 are only used when there is holiday traffic or season overflow. Numerous international vehicle hire companies rent out vehicles from RDU. These include Hertz, Enterprise and Thrifty.
Security
Only ticketed passengers are allowed to pass through security checkpoints. Passengers should keep their hand luggage with them at all time and bags may be hand searched at any time.
Surrounding Places to Stay
There are many hotels and guesthouses near RDU. These include Fairfield Inn & Suites Raleigh Durham Airport/ Brier Creek (1.6 miles, price range of $99-159), Hilton Garden Inn Raleigh-Durham Airport (1.8 miles, price range of $150) and Days Inn Raleigh Airport Research Triangle Park (2.2 miles, price range of $55-64).
Travel Tips
Domestic travellers should arrive at RDU about 2 hours before their flight to allow for time for parking, check-in and security. International travellers should arrive about four hours prior to their flight.
Contact Information:
Website: http://wwww.rdu.com Phone: +1 919 840 2123 Fax: 1 919 840 0175 Address: 2400 West Terminal Boulevard, Morrisville, NC 27560, United States Number of Terminals: 2 Time Zone: GMT - 5 (GMT - 4 from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October) Location: The airport is located 16km (10 miles) south of Durham and 16km (10 miles) northwest of Raleigh IATA airport code: RDU