Raleigh-Durham International Airport’s 25-year master plan is coming along — the RDU Airport Authority recently approved a $31 million contract for final designs of its Landside Expansion Plan of Terminal 2, which is on track to begin construction in early 2025.
Plans include extending the airport’s signature building on both ends to accommodate more ticket counters, security checkpoints, and baggage carousels in addition to improvements to lobby areas, retail spaces, and roadways.
The goal of the expansion is to lower the amount of overcrowding in the airport’s main area and to make the landside, or the area which includes terminal curbside, baggage claim, escalators, etc., of the terminal big enough to support future projects + passenger demand.
The price tag of the completed project is estimated at $400 million and can be finished once gates are added to Terminal 2, which can’t happen until the main runway that broke ground on Oct. 11 is in-use, expected by 2028.
