Denver International Airport plans to add at least eight gates to the east end of Concourse C in a 3-year, $160 million expansion that is expected to accommodate more Southwest Airlines flights.
DIA officials announced the expansion today and said the airport is likely to construct even more than eight new gates as a “cushion” to allow for future growth.
“We don’t want to be unprepared,” said Cheryl Cohen-Vader, DIA’s chief deputy manager. “We can’t produce gates overnight.”
She said DIA officials are now studying how many more than eight gates the airport should build as part of the upcoming project.
The expansion of C will be the first major concourse addition since DIA opened nearly 12 years ago.
Officials of Southwest, which started service at DIA earlier this year, said last month that its rapid success in Denver means the airline will need more gates at DIA.
The low-cost carrier now operates about 32 daily departures out of Denver.
DIA expects to handle nearly 50 million passengers this year. The airport’s original plan said the facility would likely need expansion of concourses and the terminal about the time the 50-million figure was reached.
DIA currently is building a new regional-jet terminal for United Airlines on the east end of Concourse B. It is due for completion in April.
