DENVER -- Denver International Airport is poised for a record-setting Thanksgiving holiday. Airport officials are expecting approximately 1.1 million passengers to use DIA between Tuesday and next Monday – a jump of 10 percent from last year. Sunday is expected to be the busiest day for flyers.
DIA has seen record setting traffic for all of 2016.
The large crowds help the concessionaires with revenue. It also helps the airport and travelers, as a portion of those sales is used to pay for lower operating costs. The lower the cost, the more attractive it is for the city to attract airlines and, in turn, more flights.
"When we're able to charge airlines a lower operating fee or rate here at the airport, it actually entices them to bring more business to Denver because it's more profitable for them as a hub,” said airport spokesman Heath Montgomery. Montgomery cites recent successes involving United Airlines and DIA.
In the past, DIA was a place for passengers to connect from one flight to the next, but airport officials say there's a new trend emerging.
“It used to be that Denver was a higher percentage of connecting traffic and today we're actually more of a origin and destination type of airport. So more people are coming to visit the Mile High city than ever before or leaving here as their point origin to go somewhere nonstop around the world," said Montgomery.
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