Having handled 69 million passengers in 2019, Denver International Airport (DEN) has remained one of the five busiest airports in the United States. Among the 20 busiest airports in the world for several years, the sprawling hub is well positioned to become a major global hub.
“We really benefit from the visionaries of the past, like Federico Peña, our previous mayor, who pursued the goal to build this airport. His vision for Denver back in the 1980s was ‘Imagine a Great City.’ Looking back, DEN has become part of building and growing that great city,” Vice President for Air Service Development Laura Jackson said.
In 2018, DEN inaugurated five new international routes and allocated $3.5 billion to update and improve Jeppesen Terminal, increase the number of gates in anticipation of growth in passenger traffic and, under its DEN Real Estate arm, to develop the surrounding 16,000 acres for commercial use. The project also involves the development of the 348-acre smart city Peña Station NEXT, in partnership with Panasonic Enterprise Solutions.
The nation’s largest airport by land area, DEN is the hub for three U.S. carriers: United, Frontier and Southwest. In June 2013, United launched nonstop flights between Denver and Tokyo, the demand for which has since risen more than 60 percent.
“Our efforts since 2013 have been to grow the demand between Denver and Tokyo. As of today, United’s nonstop Denver-Narita service remains our only nonstop connection to Asia, so it’s very important to us that it continues to be successful. That flight links us with Japan, one of Colorado’s most important trading partners. We will continue to proactively invest in the Japanese market to build upon the strong foundation we have established over the past decade,” Jackson said.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, DEN has become the largest contributor to Colorado’s economy, generating around $26 billion in economic benefits every year.