MORRISVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) — More flights and more non-stop destinations.

Officials at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport are expanding their offerings, hoping to take even more customers to the skies.

But CBS 17 wanted to find out if the airport’s growth is keeping up with the region’s growth.

Travelers told crews that it’s not quite there.

“We did not actually find a direct flight. We had to do a plane switch in Nashville,” said Laparis Hill, who was traveling in from Miami.

It’s not always so easy for people traveling through RDU to get to their destinations.

“Raleigh has more options than Greensboro, and of course Charlotte has more options than Raleigh,” said Kristen Swinnley, another traveler.

Airport officials are trying to change that.

“Today, we have a total of 60 nonstop destinations. It’s never enough for me, we always want more, and we’ll continue to grow the market,” said President and CEO of RDU, Michael Landguth.

That vision for growth includes Avelo Airlines launching a new base at RDU.

Airline leaders are keeping one airplane permanently in Terminal 1, and they hope to add another aircraft at the end of the year.

“We’ll be able to fly the airplane more, having it based here,” said Avelo Chief Operating Officer, Greg Baden. “We’re adding six nonstop sunny Florida routes.”

Baden told CBS17 there are a lot of factors they look at when they decide where they want to expand.

“We look for markets that have no service or are really underserviced. We saw several nonstop opportunities, specifically out of the Triangle area,” he explained. “It’s just a fast growing area with world class academics and state of the art health care and a vibrant economy.”

RDU officials said their service area is about 4.4 million people and that a top priority is making sure they’re meeting passenger demands.

“They want a lot of options for nonstop flights, but they also want great fares,” explained Landguth. “For the legacy carriers, like United and Delta, you’re competing with the aircraft that can fly literally anywhere in the world. It’s very, very competitive right now. We have a very, very strong market.”

Breeze Airlines also makes its debut at RDU on Thursday, February 16.

RDU leaders said this is just the start.