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Shawn Wayans

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KDEN FAA Airport Diagram

Denver International Airport (DIA) (IATA: DEN, ICAO: KDEN) is a major international airport located in northeastern Denver, Colorado and is operated by the City and County of Denver. In 2005 it served 43,387,513 passengers, which ranks eleventh worldwide (in the past it has ranked among the top ten busiest airports in the world). At 53 sq. miles, it is the largest airport by area in the United States. "DIA", as it is commonly known, was voted the 2005 Best Airport in North America by readers of Business Traveler Magazine.

The airport's distinctive white fabric roof is designed to be reminiscent of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains in winter. It is also known for a pedestrian bridge connecting the terminal to Concourse A that offers a unique view of planes taxiing directly underneath. The airport is a major hub for United Airlines and Frontier Airlines.

The airport is 19.5 miles (31.5 km) further from downtown Denver 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 land occupied by the airport actually has twice the land area of Manhattan, and was transferred from Adams County to Denver after a 1989 vote, instantly increasing the city's size by about half. 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 Denver passes through Aurora.

DIA has public Wi-Fi available throughout the airport provided by AT&T/Cingular [1]. T-Mobile (T-Mobile HotSpot) service is available in the airport lounges run by United, American, and Delta airlines [2].

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 project, 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 "Delayed Indefinitely Airport" or "Denver's Imaginary Airport" using the DIA acronym.

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 [3], 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 into 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 in 1995, 16 months behind schedule and at a cost of $5.2 billion, nearly $2 billion over budget. The delays and high fees prompted Continental Airlines, which had a hub at Stapleton, to back out of its plans to establish one at DIA.

During a major blizzard in 2003, the heavy snow tore a hole in the terminal's white fabric roof.

In 2004, DIA was ranked first in major airports for on time arrivals according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

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 never made 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 2003.

The 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 in monthly maintenance costs.

Design and expandability

Denver has traditionally been one of the busier airports in the nation because of its geographical 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.

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.

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 parallel runways and two east/west parallel runways.

DEN's sixth runway (16R/34L) is the longest commercial precision-instrument runway in North America with a length of 16,000 feet. Compared to other DEN runways, the extra 4,000-foot 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 DEN. The sixth runway can also accommodate the new generation of massive airliners, including the Airbus A380.

The midfield concourse allows 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 only accessible via train which simplifies security.

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 then 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. Most of the north facing gates on Concourse A can redirect incoming passengers into a separate level of the airport. That level connects with the second story of the air bridge and allows passengers to be connect to the Customs and Immigration in 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. Currently only four gates are used for international flights.

Once fully built out, DIA should be able to handle 110 million passengers per year, up from 32 million at its opening.

Trivia

  • After the airport's runways were completed but before it opened, the airport used the IATA code DVX, then later took over DEN and KDEN from Stapleton when the latter airport closed.

Conspiracy theories

Upon completion, Denver International Airport was almost immediately made the subject of many different conspiracy theories, which primarily allege that there is some sort of underground New World Order base on site. Still other conspiracy theories assert that a vast base of alien Greys and/or Reptoids exists under the airport. [citation needed]

One of the main reasons for the theories was due to the shape of the airport, which resembles a Nazi swastika or the symbol of the Process Church (see satellite map via Google Local). In addition, a time capsule in the airport features a conspicuous Masonic logo. The airport also features murals whose imagery a number of visitors have found disturbing, including a depiction of a soldier clad in a gas mask firing an automatic weapon towards the viewer; a mural of three dead women in caskets: a young Jewish girl, an African-American, and a Native American; burning cities; and a mural of dead babies and grieving mothers. Some of these murals have been painted over due to complaints about their nature, but a photo archive can be found here, while another website discussing the airport's numerous oddities can be found here.

Concourses, airlines and public transportation

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.

The concourses and main terminal are laid out similar to Atlanta's airport, except that DEN has no "T" gates directly attached to the terminal and departures are on a different level of the terminal than arrivals.

The airport charges relatively high landing fees to airlines in order to offset its construction costs. These fees have led to an effort to increase in competition from Colorado Springs Airport.

Concourse A

  • British Airways (London-Heathrow)
  • Champion Air (Las Vegas)
  • Continental Airlines (Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
  • Frontier Airlines (Acapulco, Akron/Canton, Albuquerque, Anchorage, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Boise, Cancun, Cozumel, Chicago-Midway, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, El Paso, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Houston-Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Mazatlan, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New Orleans, New York-LaGuardia, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Puerto Vallarta, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), San Jose del Cabo, Santa Ana/Orange County, St. Louis, Seattle/Tacoma, Tampa, Tucson, Washington-Reagan)
    • Frontier JetExpress operated by Horizon Air (Albuquerque, Billings, Boise, Calgary, Dayton, El Paso, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, Omaha, San Jose (CA), Spokane, Tucson, Tulsa)
  • Great Lakes Aviation (Alamosa, Alliance/Chadron, Amarillo, Cheyenne, Cortez, Dickinson, Farmington, Garden City, Gillette, Grand Island, Grand Junction, Hays, Kearney, Laramie, Liberal, North Platte, Pierre, Pueblo, Rapid City, Riverton, Rock Springs, Santa Fe, Scottsbluff, Sheridan, Telluride)
  • JetBlue (Boston, New York-JFK)
  • Lufthansa (Frankfurt)
  • Mexicana (Mexico City)
  • United Airlines
    • Ted operated by United Airlines (Cancun, Chicago-Midway [ends Sept. 5], Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, Miami, Ontario, Orlando, Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta, Reno/Tahoe, San Jose del Cabo, Tampa)
    • Under an agreement reached between Frontier Airlines, United Airlines, and the City of Denver, United will slowly leave the A Concourse and turn the gates over to Frontier Airlines. In exchange the city of Denver will expand the B Concourse and forgive some outstanding debt due to the baggage system.

Concourse B (United)

The entrance to Concourse B.
An Alexander Eaglerock biplane at the concourse's west end.
  • Air Canada (Montréal, Toronto)
  • United Airlines (Albuquerque, Anchorage, Aspen, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Billings, Boise, Boston, Burbank, Calgary, Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Cozumel, Dallas/Fort Worth, Des Moines, Detroit, Eagle, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Honolulu, Houston-Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Jackson Hole, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Newark, New Orleans, New York-LaGuardia, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orange County, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Puerto Vallarta, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Seattle/Tacoma, Sioux Falls, Spokane, St. Louis, Toronto, Tucson, Tulsa, Vancouver, Washington-Dulles, Washington-Reagan, Wichita)
    • United Express operated by GoJet Airlines (San Antonio, Tulsa)
    • United Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Aspen, Atlanta, Austin, Cape Cod, Cedar Rapids, Charlotte, Colorado Springs, Des Moines, Durango, Eagle, Fargo, Grand Junction, Gunnison, Hayden, Jackson Hole, Nashville, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, St. Louis, Tucson)
    • United Express operated by Shuttle America (Dallas/Fort Worth, Toronto)
    • United Express operated by SkyWest (Albuquerque, Austin, Bentonville/Fayetteville, Birmingham (AL), Billings, Bismarck, Boise, Bozeman, Burbank, Calgary, Chicago/Rockford, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Detroit, Durango, Edmonton, El Paso, Eugene, Fresno, Grand Junction, Grand Rapids [starts September 6], Houston/Intercontinental, Idaho Falls, Indianapolis, Knoxville, Medford, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Missoula, Moline, Montrose, Oklahoma City, Palm Springs, Pasco, Rapid City, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Santa Barbara, Springfield, St. Louis, Tucson, Tulsa, Wichita, Winnipeg)

Concourse C

Public transportation

The Regional Transportation District (RTD) operates frequent express bus service, called "SkyRide", between DIA and various locations throughout the Denver-Aurora and Boulder Metropolitan Areas. 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 ski and summer resort areas. Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) offers a Fly-Rail plan for ticketing with United Airlines for trips into Western scenic areas via a Denver stopover. Ground transportation information is available at the airport's website.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Denver International Airport.

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