As entrepreneurs return to the skies after the pandemic travel lull, they’re noticing a big hole at Raleigh-Durham International Airport: Silicon Valley.
RDU added a slew of destinations in 2023, with more to come in 2024, such as planned nonstop flights to Frankfurt and Mexico City.
But some popular destinations – including West Coast route San Jose, California – still haven’t returned from their pre-pandemic heydays.
The loss of the San Jose flight, in particular, has been a blow to entrepreneurs looking to easily access Silicon Valley venture capital dollars.
Scot Wingo, founder of startup investor Triangle Tweener Fund, said in the last three weeks alone he’s met with multiple venture investors from the Bay Area, all of whom “complained about the lack of flights to the Triangle.”
“One chose to fly to Seattle first and do some meetings and then come from there as there were more flights,” Wingo said, adding that he sees “weekly evidence” that a lack of West Coast options limits capital available to Triangle startups.
While RDU does continue to offer a flight to nearby San Francisco, that’s still an hour’s driving time to San Jose. And nonstop San Francisco flights are limited, currently operated by a single carrier, United.
United’s flight is twice daily on Fridays, Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays and once daily on other days of the week.
Alaska used to serve the route, but cut its service in 2019.
Numbers released by travel analytics firm OAG for the Triangle Business Journal show there's potential dollars to be made in expanding the San Francisco route.
Pre-pandemic in 2019, the RDU-San Francisco route brought in more than $72 million for the first nine months of the year alone. And the figures, which include origin and destination data for both nonstop and connecting flights, increased in 2023. According to OAG, the route reeled in $89.7 million this year through September for airlines.
OAG revenue estimates for RDU-San Francisco by year:
- 2019: $72,093,232
- 2020: $17,666,453
- 2021: $28,008,542
- 2022: $68,386,935
- 2023: $89.665.248
*includes data through Sept. of each year
The San Jose traffic, however, has yet to find its pre-pandemic traction, OAG numbers show, perhaps unsurprising since there is no longer a nonstop connection.
But it's making headway even without a nonstop flight. For the first nine months of the year, airlines inked $9.9 million from the route through connections, according to OAG.
OAG revenue estimates for RDU-San Jose by year:
- 2019: $16,088,087
- 2020: $5,338,058
- 2021: $6,999,154
- 2022: $14,722,055
- 2023: $9,936,587
*includes data through Sept. of each year
Southwest announced RDU’s first San Jose flight back in 2018, with its then-director of network planning Michael Cole saying, “Raleigh seems to be very much a tech-focus right now.”
Executives at Southwest, which declined to comment on whether its flight, which last took off in 2019, would return, have said they plan to be disciplined about network capacity in 2024.
CEO Bob Jordan told analysts in October that “as we look to 2024, we are moderating our capacity.”
Entrepreneurs and investors told TBJ they'd like to see more Bay Area connections — both in terms of more nonstops to San Francisco and a new flight to San Jose.
They said it: The need for Bay Area flights
Silicon Valley – also a home to numerous Research Triangle Park tech companies like IBM and Cisco — is not the only post-pandemic gap for RDU flyers.
In 2019, RDU planes flew nonstop to several locations that they don't right now, such as San Diego.
But overall traffic and destinations have increased steadily, putting RDU on track for a record year.
Through October, planes at RDU had boarded more than 6 million passengers – more travelers than the full year of 2022 and pacing ahead of 2019.
Before Covid there were 57 destinations out of RDU, including five international services. Today, RDU offers about the same number of destinations, with 6 international nonstops.
RDU wouldn't confirm any discussions about more Bay Area service.
"We are in regular communication with airlines about air service opportunities and will not publicly discuss them until a new route is confirmed," a spokesperson said.
RDU offers an incentives program aimed at securing airline investments that includes marketing support for certain nonstop routes. And it has been successful in attracting a slew of recent additions to its network, particularly when it comes to its international lineup:
