Denver International Airport’s popularity soared in 2017 with the airport hitting record highs.
Of the 100 busiest travel days in DIA’s 22-year history, 76 happened this year. There’s a simple reason for that, airport officials said.
“A lot more people start and end trips here because there’s a lot more people living here,” said Patrick Heck, DIA’s chief commercial officer, who oversees revenue.
DIA’s traffic is mimicking the growth of the region, which helped the state rank seventh highest for growth rates nationwide last year. But it’s not just about population growth. And it’s not really about more flights — the number of new flights grew just 1 percent to 275,000 from last year. But airlines have brought in larger planes that can haul more people.
“And what airlines have done is put bigger planes here,” Heck said. “United is flying 787s from here and San Francisco. And airlines are able to fill them more. This all translates to what you see here now: a lot more passengers are coming through.”
Larger planes and more flights are a sign that the industry values Denver, said Mike Boyd, with Boyd Group International, an Evergreen market research firm that tracks the airline industry.
“Nationwide, (passenger) growth is only going to be up 3 percent this year. But Denver is going to be double that,” Boyd said. “Historically, if the economy grows 3 percent, airlines grow 3 percent. But they’re not doing that anymore. They’re only adding seats where they can make the most money, and obviously that means they’re making more money in Denver.”
Travel at DIA is also much more beneficial to the local economy than Hartsfield-Jackson airport is to Atlanta’s. Hartsfield-Jackson, home of Delta Air Lines, is the nation’s busiest airport, Boyd said.
“I hear all this nonsense about Atlanta,” he said. “Denver generates more passengers than Atlanta because more people are actually coming or going to Denver. Atlanta has more passengers connecting to other flights, but they’re not staying in town. They’re just walking across the hall to another terminal.”
The number of travelers starting and ending trips or connecting to other flights at DIA this year hit 60 million on Dec. 23, which is above last year’s 58.3 million. While holidays are typically very busy, they’re not the busiest days at the airport. The top 35 days this year — which are also the top 35 days in the airport’s history — occurred during the summer.
“The busiest day in our history,” Heck said, “was a random day in June.” Specifically, June 30, a Friday.
“But summer is always a busy time,” he said. “Think about summer travel. You get people traveling on vacation. Plus, there are also business travelers. On the holidays, it’s more about vacation.”
There’s also a growing number of people at the airport who aren’t boarding or exiting a plane. DIA has issued 35,000 ID badges to workers at the 26 airlines, the 1,100 city employees, concession stand employees and others.
“It’s really busy all the time,” said John Lombardi, a United Airlines bag handler who has worked at the airport for more than 20 years. “On a 1-10 (scale), it’s a 10. That’s how busy it is.”
And there are people such as Marlyn Aguirre, who caught up with friends at the airport’s free ice skating rink Wednesday.
“It is busier,” said Aguirre, a Denver resident. “I think it’s a good thing.”
Her son, Christopher Pacheco, 11, vigorously shook his head in disapproval. Why?
“McDonald’s,” he said. “My mom took forever getting food.”
The lines are getting noticeably longer for everyone, and that is one of the growing pains that DIA hopes to tackle. Earlier this year, the airport announced plans to add 39 gates in addition to a $1.8 billion renovation of Jeppesen Terminal. The Great Hall project would also include more food and retail outlets and speed up security screening. Heck estimated that the gates would be completed by 2021.
Expansion is much easier at an airport where there’s actually room to expand. Other airports, including London’s Heathrow, has needed another runway for years. Officials finally gave their approval this year.
“This airport is in such a good place,” Heck said. “We are positioned to really become even more than what we are today because we have room to expand. That’s not the case at other airports, like Heathrow. If you follow the third runway debate at Heathrow, that’s been going on for 20 years, and they needed it 25 years ago. Our ability to grow and expand is pretty amazing.”
CORRECTION: This story file was updated at 9:37 a.m. on Dec. 28, 2017 to correct the number of gates Denver International Airport will add in addition to a $1.8 billion renovation of Jeppesen Terminal.
