A cocktail before dawn? A beer at the gate? RDU tries relaxing its alcohol rules
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- RDU will allow alcohol sales as early as 4:30 a.m. at post-security vendors.
- Airport will permit to-go alcohol in marked 16 oz. cups on terminal concourses.
- Policy aims to boost revenue and satisfy customers, airport officials say
Travelers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport will soon be able to enjoy an early morning cocktail or carry a draft beer back to their seat near the gate.
RDU’s governing board adopted new policies this week that will expand opportunities for consuming alcohol and increase revenue for the airport, which gets a cut of sales. The changes will go into effect in a few weeks, after the airport, its concessionaires and the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission work out the details.
The airport will test the changes for six months to determine if the wider availability of alcohol causes any problems, said Michael Landguth, the president and CEO.
“We’ll monitor that real closely,” Landguth said. “Part of research that we’ve done at other airports found that they really haven’t seen any flareups.”
The board approved two changes that apply only to businesses beyond the security checkpoints.
The first allows a bar or restaurant to sell alcohol at any hour that it’s open. For most, that’s as early as 4:30 a.m. Under the old rules, alcohol sales at RDU did not begin until 7 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. on Sunday.
The second change would allow bars and restaurants to sell alcohol in special to-go cups that travelers could carry through the terminal or back to their seat near the gate. The concept is similar to the social districts that cities and towns have rolled out in recent years, such as Raleigh’s “Sip n’ Stroll Downtown” or the “The Bullpen” in Durham.
The cups will be clear and hold no more than 16 ounces, said Kimberly Stewart, RDU’s vice president of concessions. Each cup will contain the name and logo of the establishment that sold it, as well as the words “Drink Responsibly. Be 21.”
Federal law prohibits passengers from consuming alcohol they brought on a plane, so travelers will need to discard or empty the to-go cup before they board.
Stewart said RDU officials reached out to other airports that have similar policies, including Charlotte Douglas International and Asheville Regional, to hear about their experiences. Police chiefs at seven airports responded, she said. Six said they’d had no new problems, and the seventh reported one incident, the “over-indulgence by a nervous flyer,” she said.
The concession company at Charlotte Douglas reported that the to-go alcohol was mostly consumed at gates near where it was purchased, Stewart said.
“They did not have any widespread walking the airport with beverage in hand,” she said.
Concern about changing the nature of RDU
The RDU Airport Authority board unanimously approved the earlier sales of alcohol. But one member, David Kushner, voted against the to-go cups.
Kushner, who represents Wake County, said earlier this summer that he was concerned about maintaining the “family-friendly” nature of the RDU terminals. He doesn’t think selling mimosas before 7 a.m. will change that, but he worries about people roaming the concourses with alcohol or wolfing down a cup of beer at the gate just before they board.
Kushner said he decided to vote against the to-go cups when he learned they would generate somewhere between $50,000 and $150,000 a year in extra revenue for the airport.
“I’m worried about changing the character of the airport irrevocably for not a lot of money,” he said Thursday.
Stewart said the benefits go beyond revenue. In Charlotte, for example, bars found it easier to staff early-morning shifts because bartenders could make more in tips from alcohol sales, she said. The to-go cups will also help with crowding, she said.
“During peak times we have shortages of bar seats,” she said.
Stewart said bars and restaurants at RDU requested the changes. Each one has its own state permit to sell alcohol, which gives them a vested interest in heading off any problems with intoxication, she said.
“It’s not an area that’s taken lightly,” she said. “They don’t want to jeopardize that ABC permit.”
This story was originally published August 22, 2025 at 4:04 PM with the headline "A cocktail before dawn? A beer at the gate? RDU tries relaxing its alcohol rules."
