RDU braces for holiday crowds as Mother’s Day, graduations converge

The first pinch point is the curb. At Raleigh-Durham International Airport, pickup lanes were already backing up with bumper-to-bumper traffic as families arrived for Mother’s Day and graduation travel, and the airport has said the Monday after Mother’s Day can rival November and December holidays in volume.

RDU said more than 280,000 passengers were expected from May 9-13, 2025, with Monday, May 12 projected to be the busiest day at about 65,000 travelers. Michael Landguth, the airport’s chief executive, called that Monday one of the busiest days of the year. RDU set a single-day passenger record on May 13, 2024, when nearly 59,000 passengers passed through, a total 6.1% above the previous record from October 2023.

The congestion is not confined to the terminal. Families coming for Duke University, North Carolina Central University and other Triangle graduations have filled hotels, restaurants and roadways from Raleigh to Morrisville to Cary, and CBS 17 said more than 20,000 hotel rooms were already booked in Durham County. Wake County’s peak hotel occupancy reached 92.4% in 2025, a sign of how fast the region can tighten when holidays and commencements overlap.

The airport’s advice is simple and useful. Drivers picking up arriving passengers should use the free cell phone lot at 1000 Trade Drive in Morrisville and wait until passengers are ready, then allow about 30 minutes for deplaning, baggage claim and meeting at the curb. Departing travelers should arrive two hours early for domestic flights and three hours early for international flights, and bring a REAL ID or another federally approved identification. The curb is for quick drop-offs and pickups only.

That advice matters because the spillover reaches well beyond the airport. Thursday’s pickup traffic was already feeding into nearby roads, and delays at RDU can ripple into Morrisville, Raleigh and Cary just as brunch reservations, graduation dinners and family visits peak. One traveler told the station she was waiting for her mother and grandmother from New Jersey, while another parent said having family together was the best gift.

The bigger picture is a Wake County travel system under strain from a strong hospitality market. Visit Raleigh said hotel lodging tax collections topped more than $41.4 million in 2025, prepared food and beverage tax collections reached $48.9 million, and hotel occupancy finished the year at 67.7%, still above state and national averages. In the first quarter of 2025, occupancy was 63.8% and lodging tax collections were more than $9.6 million, underscoring how quickly a holiday weekend can push the region toward capacity.