About PTI

The airport is self-funded. The airport derives all of its operating income from ongoing activity and operations. This includes landing fees collected from airlines, tenant leases, parking fees, rental cars and concessions. No taxes are used for the operation of the airport. A portion of capital improvements at the airport are funded by state and federal tax dollars, but these funds are limited exclusively to specific building projects such as taxiway improvements or road access.

Airlines determine the level of service in a community based on the community’s demand for service. Airports can ask airlines to provide more service, but that’s the extent of an airport’s influence. It’s up to the airline to decide what service it will provide, and the associated fares and frequency of service.

The good news is that Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI) has non-stop flights to many major hub cities. You can get to virtually anywhere in the world with one stop from PTI.

More airlines serve Raleigh and Charlotte with direct flights because there is far more demand for air service in those cities. Airlines will not provide regular service if they can’t profitability fill a plane with passengers. It’s that simple.

Triad residents who drive to the airports in Raleigh and Charlotte increase demand in those markets and decrease demand in their home market. If you fly from PTI, you are helping to encourage airlines to provide more service here.

There is a greater demand for air service in Raleigh and Charlotte because far more people fly from those cities and they fly more frequently. This demand for air service attracts more airlines to those markets, including more low-cost passenger carriers. The low-cost carriers depress prices on some routes, making it cheaper to fly to those destinations from Raleigh and Charlotte than from PTI, where there are fewer low-cost carriers and less competition to keep fares low.

Our airport authority is determined to provide as much air service as possible to our airport users and to keep fares as low as possible. The authority works hard to recruit new service and to retain the service that we already have. An incentive program is in place to entice airlines to bring new service to Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI). The authority also conducts regular visits with new airlines to encourage them to bring service to the airport and with existing airlines to encourage them to expand service.

Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI) is considered an international airport because we have customs service and border patrol, which allows us to accept international flights on the passenger side and on the cargo side. While there may be no regularly scheduled passenger service outside the United States, the airport had about 350 international flights last year. Some of these were international passenger flights diverted to our airport, as well as charters, cargo flights and private jets that use our airport.

Honda Aircraft Company, which has its world headquarters at the airport, is one of the two largest employers at the airport with more than 1,700 employees. Honda also employs about 80 people at its Honda Aero facility in Alamance County, which manufactures engines for the HondaJet.

HAECO Americas, one of the world’s largest maintenance and repair companies, is the airport’s other leading employer. HAECO Americas has its North American headquarters at the airport and employs more than 1,700 people at or near the airport. In 2018, HAECO opened another hangar at the airport, which could lead to an additional 500 jobs.

The airport has two primary missions. The first is to provide safe and efficient passenger service. The second is to act as an economic generator for the community. The airport supports more than 8,600 direct employees jobs, which would make it the eighth-largest employer in the Piedmont Triad. The airport also contributes about $8.6 billion to the local economy each year and a substantial amount to the local and state tax base. The airport is a major economic contributor to the community.

The airport authority is moving aggressively to bring more jobs to the airport. The airport has acquired more land and is building a taxiway to provide access across I-73 to give airport access to about 1,000 acres that will be developed for use by aerospace companies. An aviation task force that includes the airport and economic development partners has hired a full-time senior aviation specialist to recruit new companies to the airport, which will mean more investment and more jobs for the community.

PTI has three runways that are used by our airlines and other companies that do business at the airport.

• The main runway, 5/23, is 10,001 feet long.
• The cross-wind runway, 14/32, is 6,380 feet long.
• The parallel runway, 5L/23R, is 9,000 feet long.

Click here to access our enplaned passenger statistics!

The current passenger terminal facility began operations on October 9, 1982 and has undergone several renovations and expansions.

The passenger terminal building contains:

• 296,000 square feet on two public levels
• 65,000 square feet on the service level below ground level
• 25 aircraft parking positions adjacent to the two concourses
• Separate baggage claim and ticket counter areas for each concourse.