North Carolina's Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) has broken ground on a new, longer primary runway aimed at attracting more long-haul widebody passenger and cargo services.    

The new runway will stretch 10,639 ft., longer than the existing 10,000-ft. primary runway, “allowing long-haul aircraft to carry more passengers and cargo to destinations including the [U.S.] West Coast and Europe,” the airport says in a statement.

The cost of the runway project is pegged at $500 million, with construction expected to last until the 2028-29 timeframe. 

RDU’s existing primary runway, built in the 1980s, will be rebuilt as a taxiway once the new runway goes operational, according to the airport.

The U.S. FAA cleared RDU to begin construction on the new runway on Aug. 31.

RDU is seeking to attract more flights like the Lufthansa service from Frankfurt set to launch in June 2024. The route will be flown 5X-weekly with an Airbus A330-300 aircraft.