continued on a record-setting pace for passenger traffic in 2014, with more travelers passing through in September than during any September since the airport opened 19 years ago.
Passenger traffic at DIA increased in September by 3.3 percent, with 4,489,372 passengers using the airport compared with 4,346,502 passengers in September 2013.
The first six months of the year was the busiest first half of the year on record with 25,936,343 passengers passing through the airport.
In the first nine months of 2014, a total of 40,429,144 passengers have used the airport, an increase of 2.3 percent over the 39,529,845 passengers during the same timeframe in 2013.
September was the tenth consecutive month in which passenger traffic grew year-over-year at DIA.
Airport officials said that passenger traffic in 2014 has outperformed their projections.
A 5 percent increase international travel since September 2013 helped fuel the growth, including the extension of Icelandair’s seasonal daily Denver-to-Reykjavik flights through Sept. 10, and the addition of more daily Volaris flights to Mexico City and new routes to Chihuahua and Guadalajara, aviation manager Kim Day said in a statement.
Southwest Airlines had its best September on record and United Airlines saw strong growth in its connecting traffic.
Southwest Airlines had 1,158,966 passengers coming through Denver in September compared to 1,079,115 in September 2013, an increase of 7.4 percent. United had 1,842,291 passengers in September compared to 1,779,170 in September 2013, and increase of 3.5 percent.
Icelandair saw 8,440 passengers at DIA in September compared to 7,572 in September 2013, an increase of 11.5 percent. Year-to-date Icelandair has had 62,436 passengers at the airport, a 10.4 percent increase over the same period of 2013.
In September, United had 41 percent of the airline market share at DIA; Southwest, 26 percent; Frontier, 19 percent; American, 5 percent; Delta, 4 percent; and “other”, 4 percent.
The report noted that in addition, mail, freight and express cargo operations were up 12.8 percent in September from September 2013. According to the report, 377,591,650 pounds of cargo have been handled at DIA in 2014, up 2.4 percent from 368,823,994 pounds of cargo handled during the same period in 2013.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com or twitter.com/howardpankratz
