RDU kicks off 2010 with growth in passengers
Raleigh-Durham International Airport kicked off 2010 with an increase in passengers. In January, RDU experienced a more than 1 percent increase in passenger traffic compared to the same month last year.
18-Feb-2010 A total of 628,979 passengers traveled through RDU in January 2010 compared to 617,904 passengers in January 2009. The numbers were released today at the monthly meeting of the Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority board.
"This is the second time in the past three months that we have had a gain in passengers," said RDU Airport Director John Brantley. "This is an encouraging sign to us as we head into the busy spring break travel period."
In January, 15.1 million pounds of cargo moved through RDU compared to 14.8 million pounds in the same month last year.
RDU ended 2009 better than expected. Throughout the year, 8,973,209 passengers traveled through the airport, a decrease of 7.7 percent compared to 2008 when 9,715,928 passengers passed through RDU.
At the onset of 2009, RDU officials predicted that the downturn in the economy and changes in the airline industry would result in a passenger decline of 10 percent.
Throughout the year, 192 million pounds of cargo moved through RDU, compared to 227 million pounds in 2008.