Raleigh-Durham International Airport’s new Terminal C, under construction, will ride the first wave of a developing trend in airports: end-to-end, common-use terminal facilities.
“We’re building the system so that when IATA does ratify the standard, we only need to make minor changes,” says Mark Posner, Raleigh-Durham Airport Authority (RDU) deputy director. The new terminal will already have centralized communication and cabling rooms and airport-run terminal facilities. RDU will also provide and operate all technology functions in the terminal, including wireless Internet, cable TV and phones. “Our take is that the airlines should focus on flying airplanes,” says Cal Edmondson, RDU senior program manager.