Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU), N.C., held a dedication ceremony on December 17 (the anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight) for its new $4 million general aviation terminal, which includes a restaurant and information center. Though not yet open, the municipally owned terminal is now complete and includes conference rooms, flight-planning facilities and snooze areas. The two FBOs on the field, Piedmont-Hawthorne and Southern Jet, are on opposite sides of the terminal and both are accessible from the main entrances, both airside and streetside.

Piedmont-Hawthorne recently completed the first phase of its new facility adjacent to the municipal terminal at RDU, including 8,800 sq ft of terminal/office space and an 18,000-sq-ft hangar. The new Piedmont Hawthorne facility opened in September.

Wireless Internet access is incorporated into the new complex and three computer work stations allow waiting passengers and pilots to catch up on e-mail and continue office work. General manager Dave Lussier told AIN that the computers have already proved very popular and are used some 16 hours per day.

Phase two, an additional 22,000-sq-ft hangar, should be complete by the end of this month. Piedmont Hawthorne has some 538,000 sq ft of ramp space, according to Lussier, who also told AIN that the company has plans for three more hangars and intends to continue to build as needed to accommodate a growing business aviation presence in the area.