Raleigh-Durham International Airport

Compiled by Bill Gao

Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina (United States)

IATA: RDU ICAO: KRDU

Longest Active Runway

10,000 ft

3,048 meters

Field Elevation

435 ft

133 m MSL

Runway Inventory

3 active

Lighted / Paved

Coordinates & Class

35.8787°, -78.7873°

LARGE AIRPORT

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Multi-Universe Rankings & Statistical Standing

How ranks work →

RunwayFacts Published Dataset

tied #557 of 650

In curated primary commercial index

Global Commercial Universe

#961 of 7558

Top 13.4% percentile worldwide

For airports with equal runway length, the worldwide order does not indicate a length difference.

National Standing (United States)

tied #53 of 63 in US

same length as 8 others; nearest CLT, 113 NM · #191 of 2020 in full national registry

vs Large Airport Median

+0%

Compared to 10,000 ft baseline

💡 RDU in numbers: 10,000 ft longest runway · tied #557 of 650 published · #961 of 7,558 worldwide (top 13.4%) · tied #53 in United States.

🔬 Operational & Aerodrome Engineering Comparative Analysis

Longest runway 8,000–10,499 ft

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Elevation & National Context

Lowland Aerodrome (<2,000 ft)

RDU lies at 133 m (435 ft), #288 of 650 published airports by elevation and 49.2 percentile among 7,558 worldwide. It is 172 ft below the United States median (607 ft, 63 airports); COS is highest at 6,187 ft, 5,752 ft higher than RDU.

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Regional Density & Alternates (100 NM)

1 Qualifying Aerodrome in Vicinity

Closest of 1 paved-runway (≥5,000 ft) neighbour within 100 NM: Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO), 57.4 NM, 10,001 ft. GSO has the radius's longest runway, 1 ft more than RDU.

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Runway Inventory & National Standing

Primary Runway: 10,000 ft (3,048 m)

RDU runways: 05L/23R 10,000 × 150 ft concrete (con); 05R/23L 7,500 × 150 ft asphalt (asp); 14/32 3,570 × 100 ft asphalt (asp). National standing: tied #53 of 63 in United States with BOI/SBD/TYS/CLT/TUL/PSP/LGB/JAX at 10,000 ft; DEN leads by 6,000 ft (16,000 ft). +0% vs the 10,000 ft baseline.

🛫 Physical Runway Inventory & Surface Engineering

Runway Designator	Length (ft / m)	Width (ft / m)	Surface Material	Lighting	Status
05L/23R	10,000 ft (3048 m / 3.048 km)	150 ft (46m)	`Concrete (CON)`	✅ Lighted	✅ Active
05R/23L	7,500 ft (2286 m / 2.286 km)	150 ft (46m)	`Asphalt (ASP)`	✅ Lighted	✅ Active
14/32	3,570 ft (1088 m / 1.088 km)	100 ft (30m)	`Asphalt (ASP)`	✅ Lighted	✅ Active

🧭 Comparative Aerodromes (100 NM Radius, ≥5,000 ft Paved)

Great-circle Haversine spatial proximity matching for commercial facilities with paved runway capacity within 100 NM.

Aerodrome Name	IATA	Distance	Longest Runway	Lighting
Piedmont Triad International Airport (Greensboro)	`GSO`	57.4 NM (106.3 km)	10,001 ft	✅ Lighted

🛡️ Source: OurAirports Open Aviation Database, snapshot 2026-09-01 · Provenance →