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Denver International Airport
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Denver International Airport , often called DIA, is, by land size at , the largest international airport in the United States, and the second largest international airport in the world after only King Fahd International Airport. Runway 16R/34L is the longest public use runway in the United States.
In 2008, Denver International Airport was the ninth busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic with 51,245,334 passengers. It was also the fifth busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements with 625,884 movements.
The airport is located in extreme northeastern Denver, Colorado, and is operated by the City and County of Denver.
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Encyclopedia
Denver International Airport , often called DIA, is, by land size at , the largest international airport in the United States, and the second largest international airport in the world after only King Fahd International Airport. Runway 16R/34L is the longest public use runway in the United States.
In 2008, Denver International Airport was the ninth busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic with 51,245,334 passengers. It was also the fifth busiest airport in the world by aircraft movements with 625,884 movements.
The airport is located in extreme northeastern Denver, Colorado, and is operated by the City and County of Denver. Denver International Airport is the busiest and largest airport in the United States without non-stop service to and from Asia, although the airport is actively seeking such flights. DIA was voted the 2005 Best Airport in North America by readers of Business Traveler Magazine and was named "America's Best Run Airport" by Time Magazine in 2002.
Denver International Airport is the main hub for low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines and commuter carrier Great Lakes Airlines. It is also the second-largest hub for United Airlines (after Chicago's O'Hare International Airport), as well as a focus city for Southwest Airlines. Since commencing service to Denver in January 2006, Southwest has added over 30 destinations, making Denver its fastest-growing market.
Features
Aesthetics
The airport's distinctive white tensile architecture tension fabric roof is aesthetically designed to be reminiscent of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains in winter. Steel cables similar to those on the Brooklyn Bridge support the roof. It is also known for a pedestrian bridge connecting the terminal to Concourse A that allows travelers to view planes taxiing directly underneath and provides sweeping views of the Rocky Mountains to the West and the high plains to the East.
Automated baggage system
The airport's computerized baggage system, which was supposed to reduce flight delays, shorten waiting times at luggage carousels, and save airlines in labor costs, turned into an unmitigated failure. An opening originally scheduled for October 31, 1993 with a single system for all three concourses turned into a February 28, 1995 opening with separate systems for each concourse, with varying degrees of automation.
The system's $186 million in original construction costs grew by $1 million per day during months of modifications and repairs. Incoming flights on the airport's B Concourse made very limited use of the system, and only United, DIA's dominant airline, used it for outgoing flights. The 40-year-old company responsible for the design of the automated system, BAE Automated Systems of Carrollton, Texas, at one time responsible for 90% of the baggage systems in the U.S., was acquired in 2002 by G&T Conveyor Company, Inc.
The automated baggage system never worked well, and in August 2005, it became public knowledge that United would abandon the system, a decision that would save them $1 million per month in maintenance costs.
Solar energy system
In February 2008, construction of an on-site, two-megawatt solar energy system began. The single-axis tracking system should provide 3.5 million kilowatt-hours of energy per year and spare the environment of more than five million pounds of carbon emissions annually. The system will generate the equivalent of half the energy needs for the underground trains that move people between concourses. The $13 million-plus system sits on , clearly visible to people entering and exiting the airport. WorldWater & Solar Technologies Corp. designed and is constructing the system, while MMA Renewable Ventures LLC--rather than DIA--will own it and sell its energy to the airport.
Telecommunications
DIA has public Wi-Fi access available throughout the airport as of late 2007. Although the service is marketed as being free, it is ad-supported through an advertising-filled HTML frame that is inserted into the top of the browser window. Users of the Wi-Fi network are also required to view a 30-second advertising video in the browser before Internet access is granted. The network is managed by FreeFi Networks, a Los Angeles-based firm.. T-Mobile HotSpot service is available in the airport lounges run by United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines .The airport has pay-per-use kiosks which can be used to access the Internet and to play video games. The current stations were developed by Zoox Stations and were installed in 2007.
Geography
The airport is 25 miles (40 km) from downtown Denver, which is 19 miles (31 km) farther away than Stapleton International Airport, the airport it replaced. The distant location was chosen to avoid noise impacts to developed areas, to accommodate a generous runway layout that would not be compromised by winter storms, and to allow for future expansion. The of land occupied by the airport is nearly twice the land area of Manhattan. The land was transferred from Adams County to Denver after a 1989 vote, increasing the city's size by 50 percent. However, much of the city of Aurora is actually closer to the airport than the developed portions of Denver, and all freeway traffic accessing the airport from central Denver passes through Aurora.
History
In September 1989, under the leadership of Denver Mayor Federico Peña, federal officials authorized the outlay of the first $60 million for the construction of DIA. Two years later, Mayor Wellington Webb inherited the megaproject, scheduled to open on October 29, 1993.
Delays caused by poor planning and repeated design changes due to changing requirements from United Airlines caused Mayor Webb to push opening day back, first to December 1993, then to March 1994. By September 1993, delays due to a millwright strike and other events meant opening day was pushed back again, to May 15, 1994. This earned the airport the tongue-in-cheek nicknames "Done In April," "Done In August," "Delayed Indefinitely Airport," "Democrats in Action," or "Denver's Imaginary Airport" using the DIA initials.
In April 1994, the city invited reporters to observe the first test of the new automated baggage system. Reporters were treated to scenes of clothing and other personal effects scattered beneath the system's tracks, while the actuators that moved luggage from belt to belt would often toss the luggage right off the system instead. The mayor cancelled the planned May 15 opening. The baggage system continued to be a maintenance hassle and was finally terminated in September 2005 , with traditional baggage handlers manually handling cargo and passenger luggage.
On September 25, 1994, the airport hosted a fly-in that drew several hundred general aviation aircraft, providing pilots with a unique opportunity to operate in and out of the new airport, and to wander around on foot looking at the ground-side facilities—including the baggage system, which was still under testing. FAA controllers also took advantage of the event to test procedures, and to check for holes in radio coverage as planes taxied around and among the buildings.
DIA finally replaced Stapleton on February 28, 1995, 16 months behind schedule and at a cost of $4.8 billion, nearly $2 billion over budget. The construction employed 11,000 workers.
United flight 1062 to Kansas City International Airport was the first to depart and United flight 1474 from Colorado Springs Airport was the first to arrive.
After the airport's runways were completed but before it opened, the airport used the codes . DIA later took over as its codes from Stapleton when the latter airport closed.
During the blizzard of March 17-19, 2003, heavy snow tore a hole in the terminal's white fabric roof. Over two feet of snow on the paved areas closed the airport (and its main access road, Peña Boulevard) for almost two days. Several thousand people were stranded at DIA.
In 2004, DIA was ranked first in major airports for on-time arrivals according to the FAA.
Another blizzard on December 20th and 21st, 2006 dumped over of snow in about 24 hours. The airport was closed for more than 45 hours, stranding thousands.
Design and expandability
Denver has traditionally been home to one of the busier airports in the nation because of its location. Many airlines including United Airlines, Continental Airlines, Western Airlines, TWA, the old Frontier Airlines and People Express were hubbed in Denver and there was also a significant Southwest Airlines operation at the old Stapleton International Airport. At times, Denver was a hub for three or four airlines. Gate space was severely limited at Stapleton, and the runways at the old Stapleton were unable to deal efficiently with Denver's weather and wind patterns, causing nationwide travel disruption. These problems were the main justification for the new airport. The project began with Perez Architects and was completed by Fentress Bradburn Architects of Denver, while the canopy was designed by Leo A. Daly.
With the construction of DIA, Denver was determined to build an airport that could be easily expanded over the next 50 years to eliminate many of the problems that had plagued Stapleton International Airport. This was achieved by designing an easily expandable midfield terminal and concourses, creating one of the most efficient airfields in the world.
At , DIA is by far the largest commercial airport in the United States in land area. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is a distant second at . The control tower is one of the tallest in North America. The airfield is arranged in a pinwheel formation around the midfield terminal and concourses. This layout allows independent flow of aircraft to and from each runway without any queuing or overlap with other runways. Additional runways can be added as needed, up to a maximum of 12 runways. Denver currently has four north/south runways (35/17 Left and Right; 34/16 Left and Right) and two east/west runways (7/25 and 8/26).
DIA's sixth runway (16R/34L) is the longest commercial precision-instrument runway in North America with a length of 16,000 feet (4,877 m). Compared to other DIA runways, the extra length allows fully loaded jumbo jets to take off in Denver's mile-high altitude during summer months, thereby providing unrestricted global access for any airline using DIA. The sixth runway can also accommodate the Airbus A380.
The midfield concourses allow passengers to be screened in a central location efficiently and then transported via a rail system to three different passenger concourses. Unlike Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport upon which the midfield design was based, Concourses B and C are not connected by any kind of walkway; they are only accessible via train.
The taxiways at Denver have been positioned so that each of the midfield concourses can expand significantly before reaching the taxiways. B Concourse, which is primarily used by United Airlines, is longer than the other two concourses, but all three concourses can be expanded as needed. Once this expansion is exhausted, space has been reserved for Concourses D and E.
All international flights requiring customs and immigration services currently fly into Concourse A. Currently eight gates are used for international flights. These north facing gates on Concourse A are equipped to divert incoming passengers to a hallway which connects to the upper level of the air bridge, and enters Customs and Immigration in the north side of the Main Terminal. These gates could also be easily modified to allow boarding on both the upper deck and the lower deck of larger planes such as the Airbus A380.
Once fully built out, DIA should be able to handle 110 million passengers per year, up from 32 million at its opening.
Conspiracy theories
There are several conspiracy theories relating to the airport's design and construction. Murals painted in the baggage claim area have been claimed to contain themes referring to future military oppression and a one-world government. However, the artist, Leo Tanguma, said the murals, entitled "In Peace and Harmony With Nature" and "The Children of the World Dream of Peace," depict man-made environmental destruction and genocide along with humanity coming together to heal nature and live in peace. In the mid-1990s, Philip Schneider gave lectures about highly secretive government information concerning "deep underground military bases" that were constructed by the United States government, and said that one of these bases exists about two miles underneath the Denver International Airport. Author Alex Christopher claimed to have worked in the tunnels under the airport, and described what appeared to be vast holding areas for prisoners, strange nausea-inducing electromagnetic forces, and caverns big enough to drive trucks through, presumably to be filled with helpless political prisoners.
Conspiracists have pointed to unusual words cut into the floor as being Satanic, Masonic, or just some impenetrable secret code of the New World Order: Cochetopa, Sisnaajini, and the baffling Dzit Dit Gaii. These words are actually Navajo terms for geographical sites in Colorado. The words, Braaksma and Villarreal, are actually the names of Carolyn Braaksma and Mark Villarreal, artists who worked on the airport’s sculptures and paintings.
There is a dedication marker in the airport inscribed with the square and compasses of the Freemasons, along with listing the involvement of the two Grand Lodges of Freemasonry in Colorado, and mounted over a time capsule sealed during the dedication of the airport. The Freemasons participated in laying the “capstone” (the last, finishing stone) of the airport project. Conspiracists claim that this is a futuristic “keypad” with some unknown purpose. Scarier to them is the notation of an organization called the 'New World Airport Commission,' which sounds similar to New World Order. The New World Airport Commission was a group of local businesses that organized the opening ceremonies of the facility, and they chose the name because Denver was aiming to create a “new, world-class” city and airport.
Terminal and Concourses
Jeppesen Terminal
Denver International Airport's Jeppesen Terminal, named after aviation safety pioneer Elrey Jeppesen, is the land side of the airport. Road traffic accesses the airport directly off of Peña Blvd which in turn is fed by Interstate 70 and E-470. Two covered and uncovered parking areas are directly attached to the terminal -- three garages and an economy parking lot on the east side; and four garages and an economy lot on the west side.
The terminal is separated into west and east terminals for passenger drop off and pickup. The central area of the airport houses two security screening areas as well as a large fountain and exits from the underground train system. The north side of the Jeppensen Terminal contains a third security screening area and a segregated immigration and customs area.
Passengers are routed first to the ticket gates for checking in. Since all gates at Denver are in the outlying concourses, passengers must pass through any one of the three separate security screening areas for admittance into the secure air side of the airport.
After leaving the main terminal via the train or pedestrian bridge, passengers can access 138 gates on 3 separate concourses (A, B, & C)
Stone used in the terminal walls was supplied by the same quarry used for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Lincoln Memorial.
Concourses
Denver International Airport has three midfield concourses, spaced far apart. Concourse A is accessible via a pedestrian bridge directly from the terminal building, as well as via the underground train system that services all three concourses. For access to Concourses B and C, passengers must utilize the underground train system. On one occasion the late 1990s, the train system encountered technical problems and shut down for several hours, creating a tremendous back-log of passengers in the Jeppesen Terminal since no pedestrian walkways exist between the terminal and the B and C Concourses. Since that day the airport's train system has continued to operate without any further major service interruption.
The concourses and main terminal have a similar layout to Atlanta's airport, except that Denver has no T gates directly attached to the terminal and the space between terminals at DIA is much wider than the space between the terminals in Atlanta. This allows for maximum operating efficiency as aircraft can be pushed away from their gate awaiting departure and other arriving and departing aircraft can still taxi through the alley behind them without delay.
The airport collects landing fees, rent and other revenues from the airlines to help offset its operating costs. Denver International Airport is owned and operated by the City and County of Denver, but does not operate using tax dollars. Instead, the airport is an "enterprise fund" generating its own revenues in order to cover operating expenses. The airport operates off of revenue generated by the airlines -- landing fees, rents and other payments -- and revenues generated by non-airline resources -- parking, concessions revenues, rent and other payments.
On December 14, 2006, The Denver Post reported that DIA is in the design phase of expanding Concourse C in the airport's "first major concourse expansion." At least eight new gates are planned for construction at the east end of Concourse C and the project has an estimated pricetag of approximately $160 million. If the project is given the green light to move past the design phase, construction on Concourse C is estimated to take 3 years and will allow primarily Southwest Airlines, but also other carriers, to increase flight schedules at one of the nation's fastest-growing airports.
Denver International Airport's Concourse B also recently expanded with the addition of a regional jet terminal at the east side of Concourse B. This Regional Jet concourse consists of two smaller concourses or fingers which are connected to Concourse B via two bridges. These gates allow direct jet bridge access to smaller Regional Jets. With the opening of the Regional Jet Concourse, United Airlines has left Concourse A entirely and now operates solely from Concourse B.
The Airport has also announced plans to revise the Airport Master Plan to account for changing circumstances since the airport opened. According to the December 14, 2006, Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News articles, plans being drafted could possibly include an extension of the Main terminal to the South. This change would increase the number of ticketing counters and would also include a rail station for the terminus of the FasTracks commuter rail line from Denver's Union Station.
Airlines and destinations
Denver International Airport is the home base of Frontier Airlines and the second-largest hub for United Airlines. The airport is also the main hub of Great Lakes Airlines. DIA was a hub for the now defunct Western Pacific Airlines and is also a growing focus city for Southwest Airlines.
The top airlines serving DIA are United Airlines and Frontier Airlines, controlling about 45.3% and 24.4% of all passenger traffic at DEN in December 2008, respectively. Southwest Airlines has continued to grow rapidly in Denver, accounting for 13.6% of the passenger traffic at DIA in December 2008.
United and Frontier each serve multiple destinations in Canada, Costa Rica, and Mexico, and foreign flag carriers Air Canada, British Airways, Lufthansa, and Mexicana operate flights to their hubs.
Concourse A
Note: Concourse A handles all international arrivals at Denver (excluding airports with border preclearance) as well as the following departing flights:
Concourse A has 37 Gates: A24 - A68 with four international boarding gates, gate A37 is used for British Airways, A39 is used for Mexicana, and gates A41 & A43 is used for AeroMexico, Air Canada and Lufthansa. Denver is one of the busiest airports worldwide with one of the fewest international operations.
Airlines and destinations out of Concourse A | Airlines | Destinations |
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| Aeromexico Gates A41, A43 | Mexico City | | Air Canada Gates A41, A43 | Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson | | AirTran Airways Gate A48 | Atlanta, Milwaukee [seasonal; begins May 21] | | Alaska Airlines Gate A53 | Anchorage [seasonal], Portland (OR), Seattle/Tacoma | | British Airways Gate A37 | London-Heathrow | | Continental Airlines Gates A45, A47, A49 | Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark | | Frontier Airlines Gates A24 - A36, A38 - A40, A42, A44, A46, A50 - A52 | Akron/Canton, Albuquerque, Anchorage [seasonal], Atlanta, Austin, Boise, Cancún, Chicago-Midway, Cozumel, Dallas/Fort Worth, Dayton, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Houston-Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Los Cabos, Mazatlán, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New York-LaGuardia, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Puerto Vallarta, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), San José (CR) [seasonal], Santa Ana/Orange County, Spokane, St. Louis, Seattle/Tacoma, Tampa, Tucson, Washington-Reagan | Frontier Airlines
operated by Lynx Aviation | Aspen, Billings, Boise, Bozeman, Colorado Springs, Durango, El Paso, Fargo, Grand Junction, Hayden/Steamboat Springs [seasonal], Jackson Hole, Oklahoma City, Rapid City, Wichita | Apple Vacations
operated by Frontier Airlines | Huatulco [seasonal charter] | | Great Lakes Airlines Gates A57, A59, A61, A63 | Alamosa, Alliance, Chadron, Cheyenne, Cortez, Dickinson, Dodge City, Farmington, Garden City, Gillette, Hays, Kearney, Laramie, Liberal, Moab, North Platte, Page, Pierre, Pueblo, Riverton, Rock Springs, Salina, Scottsbluff, Sheridan, Telluride, Vernal | | JetBlue Airways Gate A35 | Boston, New York-JFK | | Lufthansa Gates A41, A43 | Frankfurt | | Mexicana Gate A39 | Mexico City | Midwest Airlines
Midwest Connect
operated by Republic Airlines Gate A46 | Milwaukee | |
Concourse B
Note: International Arrivals are handled in Concourse A.
Concourse B has 83 Gates: B15 - B39, B41 - B99
This is the concourse where the United Airlines hub is located, as well as United Express with over 50 non-stop destinations.
Airlines and destinations out of Concourse B | Airlines | Destinations |
|---|
| United Airlines Gates B17, B19, B21, B23 - B39, B43 - B53, B55, B57 | Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore, Billings, Boise, Boston, Bozeman [seasonal], Calgary, Cancún, Chicago-O'Hare, Columbus (OH), Dallas/Fort Worth, Des Moines, Eagle/Vail [seasonal], Grand Rapids [seasonal], Hayden/Steamboat Springs [seasonal], Honolulu, Houston-Intercontinental, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Jackson Hole [seasonal], Kahului [seasonal], Kansas City, Kona [seasonal], Las Vegas, Lihue, London-Heathrow [seasonal], Los Angeles, Los Cabos, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New Orleans, New York-LaGuardia, Newark, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Ontario, Orlando, Palm Springs [seasonal], Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Puerto Vallarta, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Santa Ana/Orange County, Seattle/Tacoma, Sioux Falls, Spokane, St. Louis, Tampa, Toronto-Pearson, Tucson, Tulsa, Vancouver, Washington-Dulles, Washington-Reagan, Wichita | | United Express Gates B54, B56, B58 - B99 | United Express
operated by GoJet Airlines | San Antonio, St. Louis, Tulsa | United Express
operated by Mesa Airlines | Aspen, Atlanta, Austin, Birmingham (AL), Casper, Cedar Rapids/Iowa City, Cody, Colorado Springs, Durango, Eagle/Vail, Fargo, Gillette, Grand Junction, Gunnison, Jackson Hole, Nashville, Rapid City, Rock Springs, Sioux Falls | United Express
operated by Shuttle America | Atlanta, Austin, Columbus (OH), Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston-Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Ottawa [begins June 4], Pittsburgh, Toronto-Pearson | United Express
operated by SkyWest Airlines | Albuquerque, Appleton, Aspen, Austin, Bakersfield, Bentonville/Fayetteville, Birmingham (AL), Billings, Bismarck, Boise, Bozeman, Burbank, Calgary, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Cody, Colorado Springs, Columbus (OH), Dallas/Fort Worth, Des Moines, Detroit, Durango, Edmonton, El Paso, Eugene, Fargo, Fresno, Grand Junction, Grand Rapids, Great Falls, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Helena, Houston-Intercontinental, Huntsville, Idaho Falls, Indianapolis [seasonal], Kalispell, Knoxville, Lincoln, Madison, Medford, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Missoula, Moline/Quad Cities, Monterey/Carmel, Montrose, Oklahoma City, Palm Springs, Pasco, Peoria, Pittsburgh, Rapid City, Redmond/Bend, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Santa Barbara, Saskatoon, Springfield, Traverse City [seasonal], Tucson, Tulsa, Wichita, Winnipeg | United Express
operated by Trans States Airlines | Little Rock, Moline/Quad Cities, St. Louis |
Concourse C
Note: International Arrivals are handled in Concourse A.
This is the concourse with various non-major airlines of Denver mainly for flying to each airline's hubs in other cities. This also applies in certain boarding gates in Concourse A (e.g. AirTran Airways to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport)
Concourse C has 22 Gates: C28 - C50
Airlines and destinations out of the Concourse C | Airlines | Destinations |
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| American Airlines Gates C35, C37, C39 | Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami | | Delta Air Lines Gates C40, C42, C44 | Atlanta, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City | Delta Connection
operated by Comair | Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky | Delta Connection
operated by Mesaba Airlines | Salt Lake City | Delta Connection
operated by SkyWest Airlines | Salt Lake City | | Northwest Airlines Gates C34, C36, C38 | Detroit, Minneapolis/St. Paul | Northwest Airlink
operated by Mesaba Airlines | Memphis | | Southwest Airlines Gates C28, C30, C32, C41, C43, C45 - C49 | Albuquerque, Amarillo, Austin, Baltimore, Chicago-Midway, Fort Lauderdale, Houston-Hobby, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Raleigh/Durham, Sacramento, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Santa Ana/Orange County, Seattle/Tacoma, Tampa Bay, Tucson [begins May 9], Tulsa | | Sun Country Airlines Gate C40 | Minneapolis/St. Paul [charter] | | US Airways Gates C29, C31 | Charlotte, Philadelphia, Phoenix | US Airways Express
operated by Mesa Airlines | Phoenix |
Concourses D and E
Denver International Airport has reserved room for two more Concourses to be built beyond Concourse C for future expandability. Concourse D can be built without having to move any existing structure. The underground train system, however, will have to be extended. Concourse E will require moving a United Airlines hangar. However, before construction on Concourses D and E begins, Concourses A, B, and C can be extended in both directions to contain 80 gates per concourse. This is evident from the fact that the gate number 40 was selected to be the median gate number at the middle of each concourse; theoretically, this allows for gates 1 through 40 to be located to the west, and gates 41 to 80 to be located to the east, of the passenger train system.
Public transportation
The Regional Transportation District (RTD) operates five bus routes under the frequent airport express bus service called skyRide, as well as one Express bus route and one Limited bus route, between DIA and various locations throughout the Denver-Aurora and Boulder metropolitan areas.
The skyRide services operate on comfortable coaches with ample space for luggage, while the Express and Limited bus routes operate on regular city transit buses and are mainly geared for use for airport employees.
Route | Title | Areas Served
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skyRide
AA
| Wagon Road / DIA
| Westminster, Northglenn, Thornton, Commerce City
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AB
| Boulder / DIA
| Boulder, Louisville, Superior, Broomfield, Westminster
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AF
| Cold Spring / Downtown / DIA
| Lakewood, Downtown Denver (Market Street Station), Northeast Denver
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AS
| Stapleton / DIA
| Northeast Denver
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AT
| Arapahoe County / DIA
| Littleton, Highlands Ranch, Greenwood Village, Southeast Denver, Central Aurora
|
Limited
169L
| Buckley / Tower / DIA
| South and East Aurora, Northeast Denver
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Express
145X
| Brighton / DIA
| Brighton
| | | |
skyRide services drop-off and pick-up from both the West and East side of the Jeppesen Terminal while the Express and Limited services drop-off only on the West side of the Terminal and pick-up only from the East side of the Terminal.
By 2015, RTD plans to build a commuter rail line from downtown Denver's Union Station through Aurora to DIA, as part of the FasTracks expansion program. Scheduled bus service is also available to points such as Fort Collins, Colorado and van services stretch into Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado summer and ski resort areas. Amtrak offers a Fly-Rail plan for ticketing with United Airlines for trips into scenic areas in the Western U.S. via a Denver stopover.
Accidents and incidents
- On February 16, 2007, 14 aircraft suffered windshield failures within a three-and-a-half-hour period at the airport. A total of 26 windshields on these aircraft failed. The NTSB opened an investigation, determining that foreign object damage was the cause, possibly the sharp sand used earlier that winter for traction purposes combined with wind gusts of .
- On December 20, 2008, a Continental Airlines Boeing 737-500 operating as Flight 1404 to Houston-Intercontinental Airport in Houston, TX overran runway 34R, and soon caught fire, during its takeoff roll at Denver International Airport. There was no snow or ice on the runway, however there were 31 knot (36 mph) crosswinds at the time of the accident. The NTSB has not discovered a reason for the crash. Of the 115 people on board, at least 38 sustained injuries: at least two of these injured critically.
See also
External links
- , official site
- at Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT)
- , from HowStuffWorks, describing DIA's automated system
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