With passenger traffic surging and Denver International Airport running out of options to accommodate growth, DIA officials have decided to spend $160 million to add at least eight gates to the east end of Concourse C.
Construction will take three years, and the new gates will allow Southwest Airlines and other carriers to increase flight schedules at one of the nation’s fastest-growing airports.
In announcing the concourse expansion Thursday, DIA said the airport plans to construct even more than eight new gates as a “cushion,” although the final number has yet to be determined.
“We don’t want to be unprepared,” said Cheryl Cohen-Vader, DIA’s chief deputy manager. “We can’t produce gates overnight.”
The airport solicited bids this week from companies interested in designing the addition, the first major concourse expansion since DIA opened in 1995.
The airport expects to handle nearly 50 million passengers this year. DIA’s original plan said the airport would likely need concourse and terminal additions about the time the 50 million figure was reached.
Consultants are preparing a new “master plan” for DIA. It is expected to recommend a timetable for expanding the terminal, which would be extended to the south, possibly by the time an underground commuter rail station opens at DIA in late 2014.
Growth in passenger traffic at DIA has meant key airport parking lots are filling faster and staying full longer. DIA is constructing another 1,700-space, multistory garage on the west side of the terminal.
Southwest officials would not say how many of the new C gates the airline will lease, but the Dallas-based carrier welcomed DIA’s plans. “We are pleased with the airport’s efforts to assist all the airlines with their growth,” said Southwest spokeswoman Brandy King.
Southwest, the nation’s leading low-fare airline, started service at DIA earlier this year, and officials have been emphasizing recently that the carrier’s rapid success in Denver means it will need more gates. Southwest operates 32 daily departures to nine cities from DIA, using four gates on Concourse C.
Cohen-Vader said DIA is waiting to hear from Frontier Airlines about whether it will need an expansion of Concourse A.
“We’ve had several back and forth conversations with Frontier,” Cohen-Vader said. “The ball is in their court.”
Frontier has 16 gates on A for its mainline jet operation and expects to acquire four additional gates on C from United Airlines by May, said Frontier spokesman Joe Hodas.
Frontier operates about 135 daily departures at DIA.
Getting the additional gates from United should accommodate Frontier’s mainline operation through 2010, Hodas said. Growth of Frontier’s commuter airline and regional jet business may require expansion of Concourse A at some point.
DIA also is building a new regional-jet terminal for United, the airport’s main carrier, on the east end of Concourse B. It is due for completion in April.
In addition, airport officials are reviving plans to construct a hotel adjacent to DIA’s terminal.
Because of DIA’s initial high costs, Southwest had refused to serve Denver. But increased traffic helped bring down those costs, and Southwest’s entry has been the key reason the expansion is going forward.
Said Southwest’s King: “We do plan to grow in Denver.”
Staff writer Jeffrey Leib can be reached at 303-954-1645 or jleib@denverpost.com.
