Corning lands in Raleigh-Durham the week of Amazon's fiber optics deal

Corning flew from Duplin County Airport to Raleigh-Durham International Airport on June 18, 2026, a 28-minute hop aboard Falcon 900 N38CG. The aircraft departed at 2:20 p.m. and touched down at 2:49 p.m., a brief trip likely connecting a site visit in eastern North Carolina to the state's research hub.

The same week, Corning was fresh off a multibillion-dollar agreement with Amazon to supply optical fiber for data centers, as reported by Spectrum News on June 8 [spectrumlocalnews.com](https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/charlotte/news/2026/06/08/amazon--corning-announce-plan-to-bring-big-boost-to-u-s--fiberoptics-manufacturing). The deal will create 1,000 new manufacturing jobs at Corning's North Carolina plants. That follows a May partnership with NVIDIA to build three new facilities and increase U.S. optical connectivity capacity tenfold [corning.com](https://www.corning.com/worldwide/en/about-us/news-events/news-releases/2026/05/nvidia-and-corning-announce-long-term-partnership-to-strengthen-us-manufacturing-for-ai-infrastructure.html). Raleigh-Durham, home to major data center customers, is a logical destination for meetings tied to these expansions.

The flight is one of several Corning shuttles across the Carolinas and New York this week, including multiple trips to and from Charlotte and Elmira. The company's fleet has been busy supporting oversight of its growing manufacturing footprint in North Carolina, where Corning already operates optical-fiber lines in Hickory, Concord, and Wilmington.