Denver International Airport
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Denver International Airport | |||
---|---|---|---|
IATA: DEN - ICAO: KDEN | |||
Summary | |||
Airport type | Public | ||
Operator | City & County of Denver Department of Aviation | ||
Serves | Denver, Colorado | ||
Elevation AMSL | 5,431 ft (1,655 m) | ||
Coordinates | |||
Runways | |||
Direction | Length | Surface | |
ft | m | ||
16R/34L | 16,000 | 4,877 | Concrete |
16L/34R | 12,000 | 3,658 | Concrete |
17L/35R | 12,000 | 3,658 | Concrete |
17R/35L | 12,000 | 3,658 | Concrete |
7/25 | 12,000 | 3,658 | Concrete |
8/26 | 12,000 | 3,658 | Concrete |
Denver International Airport (IATA: DEN, ICAO: KDEN, FAA LID: DEN), often called DIA, is, by land size, the largest international airport in the United States, and the third largest international airport in the world, after only King Fahd International Airport[1], and Montreal-Mirabel International Airport.
Currently, Denver International Airport is the fifth busiest airport in the United States in terms of traffic, and the tenth in the world with 47,324,844 passengers passing through the airport in 2006; a 9.1% change from 2005. [2]
The airport is located in far northeastern Denver, Colorado. Operated by the City and County of Denver, in 2006 it served almost 50,000,000 passengers. Denver is also the busiest and largest airport in the US without any non-stop service to and from Asia. 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[3].
Contents |
[edit] Features
The airport's distinctive white tension 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 allows travelers to view planes taxiing directly underneath. The airport is the home base of Frontier Airlines and the second-largest hub for United Airlines, as well as the primary hub for Ted, a subsidiary of United. DIA is also the main hub of Great Lakes Airlines, has a growing Southwest Airlines operation, and was a hub for the now defunct Western Pacific Airlines.
DIA has public Wi-Fi access available throughout the airport provided by AT&T/Cingular [4]. T-Mobile HotSpot service is available in the airport lounges run by United, American, and Delta airlines [5].
[edit] Geography
The airport is a distance of 25 miles (40 km) from Denver[6], 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 54 square miles (34,524 acres or 140 km²)) of land occupied by the airport actually has twice the land area of Manhattan. It is slightly larger than the City and County of San Francisco. It 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.
[edit] 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 "Done In April," "Done In August," "Delayed Indefinitely Airport" 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 [7], 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 $5.2 billion, nearly $2 billion over budget.
After the airport's runways were completed but before it opened, the airport used the codes (IATA: DVX, ICAO: KDVX). DIA later took over (IATA: DEN, ICAO: KDEN) 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.
In 2007, in a mysterious incident, 22 aircraft suffered windshield failures within a three-hour period at the airport; the NTSB is investigating.[1]
Another blizzard on December 20th and 21st, 2006 dumped over 20 inches of snow in about 24 hours. The airport was closed for more than 45 hours, stranding thousands.
[edit] 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, and is widely given as a textbook example of a software engineering disaster[8]. 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 [9] that United would abandon the system, a decision that would save them $1 million in monthly maintenance costs.
[edit] 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. 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.
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. To avoid excessively long taxi distances, runways ending closest to the terminals are used for landing while runways starting closest to the terminals are used for takeoff. Most narrow body aircraft don't use reverse thrust while landing because they save time by rolling to the runway's end before exiting.
DIA'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 DIA 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 DIA. The sixth runway can also accommodate the new generation of massive airliners, including the Airbus A380.
The midfield concourses 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 not connected by any kind of walkway, they 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 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.
[edit] Concrete integrity
Two of DIA's runways and various DIA taxiways have been under scrutiny for possible failure. The Saturday, July 15, 2006 edition of the Rocky Mountain News presented an article on page 21A detailing the issue. According to the News, runways 8/26 and 16R/34L along with various taxiways were constructed with sub-par concrete. [10]
According to the article, the contractor diluted the concrete used in the construction below acceptable limits to reduce costs. The contractor, a company known as Ball, Ball, and Brossamer Corp, was also alleged to have faked the quality assurance tests administered by the FAA. According to the article, the contractor would somehow get wind of an upcoming test in advance. Once a test time was known, the contractor would adjust the concrete strength for the test sample in question to levels high enough to pass inspection. This caused the sub-par concrete to go undetected by the integrity tests. The combination of sub-par concrete and the rigged tests allowing its use has contributed to the degradation of the runways and taxiways in question, causing DIA to replace 1,287 concrete panels used in the affected runways and taxiways. The allegations against the contractor are as yet unproven.
Each runway and taxiway affected now undergoes a twice-daily inspection to search for additional damage caused by airport operations. Despite the increased vigilance, it is speculated that the runways in question will wear out and require replacement in 15-20 years, which is half of the estimated lifespan of 30-40 years.
It is also speculated that ASR, or Alkali-Silica Reaction, could also be responsible for concrete degradation. ASR is caused when the cement used in the concrete mixture is highly alkaline, causing a reaction with the silica present in the gravel/sand components. A substance forms over time which absorbs water, causing the concrete to crack and crumble. Combine ASR with the natural extremes of the Freeze/Thaw cycle in Colorado and concrete degradation becomes a distinct possibility according to the FAA. Ball, Ball, and Brossamer also backs this line of reasoning.
It should be noted that Ball, Ball, and Brossamer has been party to a lawsuit in California due to similar deficiencies in a runway in Colorado Springs, and allegations have popped up at the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, CA.
In any event, concrete integrity is important in aviation as loose concrete can be sucked into a jet engine at takeoff, possibly causing a catastrophic event. DIA officials are certain of the runway/taxiway safety for the time being and expect the periodic replacements and inspections to hold the line. Currently, DIA is conducting a survey into the feasibility of runway/taxiway replacement scheduled over a 13 month period.
[edit] Terminals, airlines and destinations
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. Since the design of the airport countenanced no back-up plan to the train system (for instance, no underground pedestrian tunnels) the occasions on which the trains have failed have been embarrassing to the airport management.
The concourses and main terminal have a similar layout compared to Atlanta's airport, except that DEN has no "T" gates directly attached to the terminal.
The airport charges relatively high landing fees to airlines in order to offset its construction costs as a direct result of the airport being built to support hub operations of United and Continental. Continental subsequently abandoned the hub shortly before their Bankruptcy in the 90's and prior to the Airport opening. While these fees had led to an effort to increase competition from Colorado Springs Airport, the failure of Western Pacific Airlines and Southwest Airlines's decision to operate out of DIA has left DIA as the only major national airport in the region.
As of February 2007, United Airlines is using 4 gates out of Concourse A on its mainline flights, until modifications to wholly operate out of Concourse B are completed. United plans to release the gates to Frontier Airlines by Spring 2007.
On December 14, 2006, The Denver Post reported that DIA is expanding Concourse C in the airport's "first major concourse expansion." At least eight new gates will be constructed at the east end of Concourse C estimated at a total of approximately $160 million. 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 is also expanding with the addition of a regional jet terminal at the east side of Concourse B. This Regional Jet concourse will consist of two smaller concourses or fingers which are connected to Concourse B via two bridges. These gates will have direct jet bridge access to the smaller Regional Jets.
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 are being drafted to extend 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.
Denver also stated that they have started discussions with Frontier Airlines over possibly building another Regional Jet terminal on Concourse A. Since Denver International Airport is privately funded from operations all construction would be financed by bonds.
[edit] 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 Pena Blvd which in turn is fed by Interstate 70 and E-470. Two parking garages are directly attached to the terminal. 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 105 Gates on 3 separate Concourses (A, B, & C)
[edit] Concourse A
Note: Concourse A handles all international arrivals at DIA (excluding airports with border preclearance) as well as the following departing flights:
Concourse A has 37 Gates: A24 - A61
- Air Canada Gates A41, A43 (Montréal, Toronto-Pearson)
- British Airways Gate A37 (London-Heathrow)
- Champion Air Gate A50 (Cancún, Las Vegas)
- Continental Airlines Gates A45, A47, A49 (Cleveland, Houston-Intercontinental, Newark)
- Frontier Airlines Gates A24 - A32, A34, A36, A38, A39, A48 - A53
- Domestic: (Akron/Canton, Albuquerque, Anchorage [seasonal; resumes May 6, 2007], Atlanta, Austin, Boise, Chicago-Midway, Dallas/Fort Worth, Dayton, Detroit, El Paso, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers [seasonal], Fresno [ends June 15, 2007], Hartford/Springfield, Houston-Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Jacksonville [begins June 15, 2007], Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Memphis [begins May 12, 2007], Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Nashville, New York-LaGuardia, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Santa Ana/Orange County, Spokane [seasonal; begins April 14, 2007], St. Louis, Seattle/Tacoma, Tampa, Tucson, Washington-Reagan)
- International: (Acapulco [seasonal], Cancún, Cozumel, Guadalajara, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo [seasonal], Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta, San Jose del Cabo, Vancouver [begins May 5, 2007])
- Frontier Airlines operated by Republic Airlines (Albuquerque, Boise [begins December 1, 2007], Calgary [begins October 1, 2007], El Paso, Indianapolis, Little Rock [begins December 1, 2007], Los Angeles [begins April 15, 2007], Louisville, Oklahoma City, Omaha, San Francisco [begins April 15, 2007], Spokane [begins May 4, 2007], Tulsa [begins November 30, 2007])
- Frontier JetExpress operated by Horizon Air Gates A58 - A68 (Albuquerque [ends November 30, 2007], Billings, Boise [ends November 30, 2007], Calgary [ends September 30, 2007], Dayton [ends May 3, 2007], El Paso [ends November 30, 2007], Little Rock [ends November 30, 2007], Oklahoma City [ends November 30, 2007], Omaha [ends November 30, 2007], Spokane [ends July 5, 2007], Tulsa [ends November 30, 2007])
- FrontierExpress operated by Lynx Aviation (begins May/June 2007)
- Apple Vacations operated by Frontier Airlines (Huatulco) [seasonal charter]
- Great Lakes Airlines Gates A58 - A68 (Alamosa, Alliance, Amarillo, Chadron, Cheyenne, Cortez, Dickinson, Dodge City, Farmington, Garden City, Gillette, Grand Junction, Hays, Huron, Kearney, Laramie, Liberal, North Platte, Page, Pierre, Pueblo, Riverton, Rock Springs, Santa Fe, Scottsbluff, Sheridan [begins May 11, 2007], Telluride)
- JetBlue Airways Gates A33, A35 (Boston, New York-JFK)
- Lufthansa Gates A41, A43 (Frankfurt, Munich)
- Mexicana Gate A39 (Mexico City, Zacatecas [seasonal])
- Thomsonfly A-Concourse Gate Varies (London-Gatwick [seasonal charter])
- United Airlines Gates A40, A42, A44, A46 (See Concourse B)
[edit] Concourse B
Note: International Arrivals are handled in Concourse A.
Concourse B has 46 Gates: B15 - B61
- United Airlines Gates B15 - B53, B55, B57
- Domestic: (Albuquerque, Anchorage, Aspen, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Billings, Boise, Boston, Burbank, Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Dallas/Fort Worth, Des Moines, Detroit, Eagle/Vail, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Honolulu, Houston-Intercontinental, Indianapolis, Jackson Hole, Kansas City, Kona [seasonal], Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, Newark, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Orange County, Orlando, Palm Springs [seasonal], Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Raleigh/Durham [seasonal; begins April 24, 2007], Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Seattle/Tacoma, Sioux Falls, Spokane, St. Louis, Tucson, Tulsa, Washington-Dulles, Washington-Reagan, Wichita)
- International: (Calgary, Cozumel, Mexico City [seasonal], Puerto Vallarta, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver)
- Ted operated by United Airlines (Cancún, Fort Lauderdale, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Las Vegas, Miami, New Orleans, Ontario, Orlando, Phoenix, Puerto Vallarta, Reno/Tahoe, San Jose del Cabo, Tampa)
- United Express Gates B54, B56, B58, B59 (A-L), B60, B61 (A-K)
- United Express operated by GoJet Airlines (Dayton [begins April 24, 2007], Grand Rapids, Moline/Quad Cities [begins April 24, 2007; ends June 6, 2007], San Antonio, St. Louis, Tulsa)
- United Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Aspen, Atlanta, Austin, Cedar Rapids, Charlotte, Cody, Colorado Springs, Des Moines, Durango, Eagle/Vail, Fargo, Grand Junction, Gunnison, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Jackson Hole, Nashville, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, St. Louis)
- United Express operated by Shuttle America (Dallas/Fort Worth, Raleigh/Durham [begins October 4, 2007], Toronto-Pearson)
- United Express operated by SkyWest (Albuquerque, Austin, Bentonville/Fayetteville, Birmingham (AL), Billings, Bismarck, Boise, Bozeman, Burbank, Calgary, Casper, Chicago/Rockford, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Cleveland, Cody, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Detroit, Durango, Edmonton, El Paso, Eugene, Fresno, Grand Junction, Great Falls, Houston-Intercontinental, Huntsville, Idaho Falls, Indianapolis, Kalispell [begins June 7, 2007], Knoxville, Lincoln, Madison, Medford, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Missoula, Moline/Quad Cities, Monterey/Carmel, Montrose, Oklahoma City, Palm Springs, Pasco, Rapid City, Redding (coming soon), Redmond/Bend, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, Santa Barbara, Springfield, St. Louis, Tucson, Tulsa, Wichita, Winnipeg)
[edit] Concourse C
Note: International Arrivals are handled in Concourse A.
Concourse C has 22 Gates: C28 - C50
- AirTran Airways Gate C46 (Atlanta)
- Alaska Airlines Gate C32 (Anchorage [seasonal], Portland (OR), Seattle/Tacoma)
- Horizon Air (Portland (OR))
- American Airlines Gates C35, C37, C39 (Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami)
- AmericanConnection operated by Trans States Airlines (St. Louis)
- Big Sky Airlines Gate C31 (Billings, Sheridan)
- Delta Air Lines Gates C40, C42, C44 (Atlanta, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Salt Lake City)
- Delta Connection operated by Comair (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky)
- Delta Connection operated by SkyWest (Salt Lake City)
- Midwest Airlines Gate C48 (Milwaukee)
- Northwest Airlines Gates C34, C36, C38 (Detroit, Indianapolis [begins June 7, 2007], Memphis [begins May 3, 2007], Minneapolis/St. Paul)
- Northwest Airlink operated by Pinnacle Airlines (Memphis) [ends June 6, 2007]
- Southwest Airlines Gates C41, C43, C45, C47, C49 (Baltimore/Washington, Chicago-Midway, Houston-Hobby, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville, Oakland [begins June 17, 2007], Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego [seasonal], Tampa [begins May 4, 2007])
- Sun Country Airlines Gate C40 (Laughlin/Bullhead City [seasonal], Minneapolis/St. Paul)
- US Airways Gates C28 - C30 (Charlotte, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh)
- US Airways operated by America West Airlines (Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix)
- US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines (Phoenix)
[edit] Concourses D & 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 extend the underground train line or move any existing structure. Concourse E will require moving a Continental Airlines hangar. However, before construction on Concourses D & 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 39 to be located to the west, and gates 40 to 80 to be located to the east, of the passenger train system.
[edit] 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 |
---|---|---|
skyRide | ||
AA | Wagon Road / DIA | Westminister, Northglenn, Thornton, Commerce City |
AB | Boulder / DIA | Boulder, Louisville, Superior, Broomfield, Westminster |
AF | Cold Spring / Downtown / DIA | Lakewood, Downtown Denver, Northeast Denver |
AS | Stapleton / DIA | Northeast Denver |
AT | Arapahoe County / DIA | Littleton, Highlands Ranch, Greenwood Village, Southeast Denver, Aurora |
Express | ||
145X | Brighton / DIA | Brighton |
Limited | ||
169L | Buckley / Tower / DIA | Aurora, Northeast Denver |
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.
[edit] See also
[edit] Trivia
- At the peak of construction in 1993, DIA employed more than 11,000 workers.
- DIA's fiber optic communication network is 5,300 miles long if laid end-to-end.
- DIA's 327 foot control tower, the tallest at the time the airport was built, is designed to sway only 1/2 inch in 86 mile-per-hour winds.
- United flight 1062 to MCI was the first to depart from DIA and United flight 1474 from COS was the first to arrive.
- The Jeppesen Terminal's fiberglass roof structure uses steel cables not unlike that of the Brooklyn Bridge to control tension and stability.
- The same quarry that supplied stone for DIA's terminal walls were used for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Lincoln Memorial.
- London Gatwick Airport also has a pedestrian bridge, but it is much taller than that of DIA and allows 747 aircraft to taxi underneath it.
- DIA has the longest commercial runway in use in North America, Runway 16R/34L, at 16,000 feet long.
- DIA has, since its construction, been a target for conspiracy theorists who claim that it sits above a secret underground base and is controlled by the New World Order. These theorists cite the immense scale of the construction project, varying interpretations of murals in the airport(some now painted over), and the appearance of a masonic symbol and the phrase "New World Airport Commission" on the keystone, among the evidence of their theories.
[edit] References
- FAA Airport Master Record for DEN (Form 5010 PDF)
- How Baggage Handling Works, from HowStuffWorks, describing DIA's automated system
- Project Problems with the Denver Airport Baggage Handling System (in PDF format), from a Middlesex University website
- Link to Rocky Mountain News Article on Runway Degradation - search for date (July 15) and description (Denver International Airport Runways).
[edit] Notes
- ^ Coventry Airport News: Largest Airport
- ^ Denver International Airport is the 5th Busiest Airport in the United States
- ^ Welcome to America's Best Run Airport
- ^ About DIA - Airport Services
- ^ Denver, CO - Wireless Hotspots
- ^ Distance from downtown Denver as per MapQuest
- ^ Denver Airport Saw the Future. It Didn't Work.. New York Times (August 27, 2005).
- ^ Brooks, F. P. 1987. No silver bullet: essence and accidents of software engineering. Computer 20, 4 (Apr. 1987), 10-19.
- ^ Denver airport to mangle last bag. New York Times, via International Herald Tribune (August 27, 2005).
- ^ Council president not troubled by DIA concrete. Rocky Mountain News (July 19, 2006).
[edit] External links
- Denver International Airport (official site)
- Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT): Denver International Airport
- FAA Airport Diagram (PDF)
- Resources for this airport:
- AirNav airport information for KDEN
- ASN Accident history for KDEN
- FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
- NOAA/NWS latest weather observations
- SkyVector aeronautical chart for KDEN
- FAA current DEN delay information
- Youtube Video of Tram Ride