It's been some time since we discussed what we thought would be next new destinations to/from Denver? United claims that they will be adding a lot of capacity to the market in the coming quarters (including bringing back the London flight) but does anyone have any interesting ideas of what's next for DEN? How about new international carriers?

Hainan is the best bet for an international carrier. Second best is probably Emirates.

I've read on another topic, that Aer Lingus is possibly adding a four times weekly Dublin flight on a A330-200. That would be a nice lineup for Denver. Heavy on Europe, I would like to see a carrier from Asia next.

Kden95 wrote:

I've read on another topic, that Aer Lingus is possibly adding a four times weekly Dublin flight on a A330-200. That would be a nice lineup for Denver. Heavy on Europe, I would like to see a carrier from Asia next.

I was told AerLingus has signed at least one contract at DEN with a passenger service company, from somebody at that company.

Personally I think DEN will land EK as there is quite a gap in service to the ME. Hainan would also seem to be a good fit for DEN and would bolster TPAC service from DEN.

I've read from a Denver newspaper that DEN was trying to get CPH presumably through SAS or DY. Also ICN was high on the list too along with BOG. What are the odds of DEN getting these routes?

rajincajun01 wrote:

Kden95 wrote:

I've read on another topic, that Aer Lingus is possibly adding a four times weekly Dublin flight on a A330-200. That would be a nice lineup for Denver. Heavy on Europe, I would like to see a carrier from Asia next.

I was told AerLingus has signed at least one contract at DEN with a passenger service company, from somebody at that company.

I'm guessing its with Swissport? They handle the international flights at DEN. If this is true, then Aer Lingus certainly would be a nice low-cost alternative to DY. Aside from connecting traffic opportunities how much traffic is there between Ireland and Colorado? Plus, how would this impact BA's operations?

Are the international transit facilities at DEN? I’m wondering if NZ ever started a B789 AKL-DEN, would there be the possibility of transit to the UA LHR flight?

Would TK be a possibility? I would think with UA and them being partners that DEN would be a logical add to their US network.

I think EK is a given, but wouldn’t the elevation be a problem for them or no?

While WN already has nonstop service from DEN to most of its U.S. destinations that it will ever serve nonstop from DEN, WN could add nonstop service from DEN to CVG, DSM, ELP, MEM, and ICT.

In addition to adding nonstop service to CVG, DSM, ELP, MEM, and ICT from DEN, WN could also add nonstop service to additional international destinations out of DEN, including MBJ, PUJ, LIR, and SJO.

One question I always have when UA speaks about increasing the amount of flights in and out of Denver is if at some point will they add another bank of flights to the east coast. When looking at the schedule, they have (give or take 30 min)-- 8 am west coast, 10 am East/mid, 11 am west coast, 12 pm international/Mexico, 3 pm west coast, 6 pm east coast, 7 pm west coast, 9 pm late night flights. This is from today's schedule. As you can see they only have two major banks to the east coast and I wonder if cities like Baltimore, Cincinnati, Nashville and so on could support a third flight to Denver on UA.

Always a thought in the back of my mind.

jhsusman wrote:

It's been some time since we discussed what we thought would be next new destinations to/from Denver? United claims that they will be adding a lot of capacity to the market in the coming quarters (including bringing back the London flight) but does anyone have any interesting ideas of what's next for DEN? How about new international carriers?

Norwegian Air is starting CDG in June

WestJet is starting flights to YYC March 8th

Edelweiss is starting seasonal flights to ZRH in early June.

Aer Lingus is rumored to announcing DUB-DEN soon.

I've heard KLM has expressed interest in opening AMS-DEN too (seems strange when SLC is close by)

As already mentioned, Europe to DEN is getting crowded (maybe even over-served) so hopefully an asian or an ME3 carrier is coming soon. My guess is Asiana to ICN and Emirates but can the 777-300ER make the trip from a hot & high airport?

trexel94 wrote:

jhsusman wrote:

It's been some time since we discussed what we thought would be next new destinations to/from Denver? United claims that they will be adding a lot of capacity to the market in the coming quarters (including bringing back the London flight) but does anyone have any interesting ideas of what's next for DEN? How about new international carriers?

Norwegian Air is starting CDG in June

WestJet is starting flights to YYC March 8th

Edelweiss is starting seasonal flights to ZRH in early June.

Aer Lingus is rumored to announcing DUB-DEN soon.

I've heard KLM has expressed interest in opening AMS-DEN too (seems strange when SLC is close by)

As already mentioned, Europe to DEN is getting crowded (maybe even over-served) so hopefully an asian or an ME3 carrier is coming soon. My guess is Asiana to ICN and Emirates but can the 777-300ER make the trip from a hot & high airport?

I’m not so sure that DEN is really over served to Europe especially given that most of the new routes are either LCC’s or leisure (Edelweiss). A UA route to CDG would be very welcome or perhaps an actual LX route to Zurich. As for Emirates the 77L should be able to make it as well as the A380 even in the summer.

787fan8 wrote:

Would TK be a possibility? I would think with UA and them being partners that DEN would be a logical add to their US network.

I think EK is a given, but wouldn’t the elevation be a problem for them or no?

I doubt that TK would be happening as DXB would be better for connections. Also from what I’ve seen there hasn’t been much interest from TK in DEN, though I could be very wrong about that.

748iDEN wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

jhsusman wrote:

It's been some time since we discussed what we thought would be next new destinations to/from Denver? United claims that they will be adding a lot of capacity to the market in the coming quarters (including bringing back the London flight) but does anyone have any interesting ideas of what's next for DEN? How about new international carriers?

Norwegian Air is starting CDG in June

WestJet is starting flights to YYC March 8th

Edelweiss is starting seasonal flights to ZRH in early June.

Aer Lingus is rumored to announcing DUB-DEN soon.

I've heard KLM has expressed interest in opening AMS-DEN too (seems strange when SLC is close by)

As already mentioned, Europe to DEN is getting crowded (maybe even over-served) so hopefully an asian or an ME3 carrier is coming soon. My guess is Asiana to ICN and Emirates but can the 777-300ER make the trip from a hot & high airport?

I’m not so sure that DEN is really over served to Europe especially given that most of the new routes are either LCC’s or leisure (Edelweiss). A UA route to CDG would be very welcome or perhaps an actual LX route to Zurich. As for Emirates the 77L should be able to make it as well as the A380 even in the summer.

787fan8 wrote:

Would TK be a possibility? I would think with UA and them being partners that DEN would be a logical add to their US network.

I think EK is a given, but wouldn’t the elevation be a problem for them or no?

I doubt that TK would be happening as DXB would be better for connections. Also from what I’ve seen there hasn’t been much interest from TK in DEN, though I could be very wrong about that.

EK A380 would be huge overcapacity. I could see 4x weekly on the 77L to start with.

I could also see the EI rumors balanced with a decrease in capacity to LHR on BA. Going down to a 77W or 772 from the 744 but add a A332 to DUB would be a capacity growth for IAG still.

For Asia, I assume China is next. PEK most likely.

trexel94 wrote:

I've read from a Denver newspaper that DEN was trying to get CPH presumably through SAS or DY. Also ICN was high on the list too along with BOG. What are the odds of DEN getting these routes?

There have been attempts to land CPH, but OSL will likely come first on Norwegian. ICN would be a great add (2-3x weekly), especially if DL could feed some traffic to KE if they started service. BOG isn't likely anytime soon. You'll see TPA get BOG before DEN does.

rajincajun01 wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

I've read from a Denver newspaper that DEN was trying to get CPH presumably through SAS or DY. Also ICN was high on the list too along with BOG. What are the odds of DEN getting these routes?

There have been attempts to land CPH, but OSL will likely come first on Norwegian. ICN would be a great add (2-3x weekly), especially if DL could feed some traffic to KE if they started service. BOG isn't likely anytime soon. You'll see TPA get BOG before DEN does.

Keeping in mind that DEN is a star alliance hub I don’t think DL will do any connecting traffic but UA could with OZ to ICN for sure. Anyone think that the UA LHR flight will be increased to daily year round service?

trexel94 wrote:

jhsusman wrote:

It's been some time since we discussed what we thought would be next new destinations to/from Denver? United claims that they will be adding a lot of capacity to the market in the coming quarters (including bringing back the London flight) but does anyone have any interesting ideas of what's next for DEN? How about new international carriers?

I've heard KLM has expressed interest in opening AMS-DEN too (seems strange when SLC is close by)

Priort to the NW/DL merger I kept hearing rumors that AMS-DEN was high on the list to be served by either KLM A330 or NW A330.

Iceland Air has been pretty successful in DEN. Perhaps there will be some added frequency in their future schedules.

Frontier 14

Are there plans to expand DENs international capabilities (sorry if I missed a topic about this)? Flew in on FI last week from KEF and waited on the ground 50 minutes for an Intl. gate to open up. Not sure if this is a usual occurance now, but I’m sure it will be as DENs international portfolio expands.

Frontier14 wrote:

Iceland Air has been pretty successful in DEN. Perhaps there will be some added frequency in their future schedules.

Frontier 14

Icelandair went to twice daily a few times a week last summer. Even had both special liveries on the ground at the same time one day. Have not heard if they plan the same this year.

Beechtobus wrote:

Are there plans to expand DENs international capabilities (sorry if I missed a topic about this)? Flew in on FI last week from KEF and waited on the ground 50 minutes for an Intl. gate to open up. Not sure if this is a usual occurance now, but I’m sure it will be as DENs international portfolio expands.

Three new international configured jetways are to be added in concourse A and completed by 2021. Part of a 1.2 billion dollar 39 gate expansion.

trexel94 wrote:

Beechtobus wrote:

Are there plans to expand DENs international capabilities (sorry if I missed a topic about this)? Flew in on FI last week from KEF and waited on the ground 50 minutes for an Intl. gate to open up. Not sure if this is a usual occurance now, but I’m sure it will be as DENs international portfolio expands.

Three new international configured jetways are to be added in concourse A and completed by 2021. Part of a 1.2 billion dollar 39 gate expansion.

Thanks! Just found the link on Denver Post. It looks like the existing gates on the northwest side of A will also be converted to 2 intl. gates as well (between the current intl gates and the future 3 you mentioned). Looks like there will be 9 widebody gates (which I suppose can be used for 18 or so narrow body gates), plus the 4 or so gates that have FIS access on the south side of A.

Norwegian Air is interested in adding BCN or MAD in 2019. Beware the paywall.

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news ... other.html

It looks like a group is trying to get a observation deck and park built at DEN. DEN is one of the worst airports to planespot at.

https://www.facebook.com/DENobservationdeck/

2 quick questions regarding DENs expansion;

1) Will the FIS facilities be expanded with the Great Hall/gate expansion? I haven’t seen this referenced anywhere. Does the FIS even need to be expanded? The 3 times I’ve flown internationally I seemed to breeze right through. I could have happened to been going through at slow times and I’m sure with the influx of new intl. service, an FIS expansion will eventually be needed.

2) What are the plans for the east end of A? Will the finger that extends from the centerline of the concourse (that Greatlakes, Boutique, etc. is on) be demolished? Who will use the 6 gates on that northeast finger?

Thanks for any replies.

Alaska will be ending service to SFO in early June.

rajincajun01 wrote:

Alaska will be ending service to SFO in early June.

That's unfortunate, Any reason why? Was hopeing for more from Alaska, Portland for example. Any thoughts on if JetBlue will add extra flights from Denver?

trexel94 wrote:

Norwegian Air is interested in adding BCN or MAD in 2019. Beware the paywall.

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news ... other.html

That would be fantastic for us that can self connect via low fares on TUL/DEN.

Only thing else I want is a MEM/DEN flight for better west coast options.

Kden95 wrote:

rajincajun01 wrote:

Alaska will be ending service to SFO in early June.

That's unfortunate, Any reason why? Was hopeing for more from Alaska, Portland for example. Any thoughts on if JetBlue will add extra flights from Denver?

Alaska is doing a lot of budget related moves. UA flies up to 777s or 787s there, so a lot of capacity to compete with.

Just curious as to why another Asian carrièr is needed at DEN. Are there a lot of people of Asian descent living in central Colorado?

dfwjim1 wrote:

Just curious as to why another Asian carrièr is needed at DEN. Are there a lot of people of Asian descent living in central Colorado?

It is about tourism dollars $$$. Tourism is the primary industry in Colorado these days. Throw in a little mary jane, anyone can purchase it over 21, and you will understand why. The city and state wants your vacation dollars anyway they can get it.

Frontier 14

dfwjim1 wrote:

Just curious as to why another Asian carrièr is needed at DEN. Are there a lot of people of Asian descent living in central Colorado?

Another? Denver doesn’t have any Asian carriers.

rajincajun01 wrote:

dfwjim1 wrote:

Just curious as to why another Asian carrièr is needed at DEN. Are there a lot of people of Asian descent living in central Colorado?

Another? Denver doesn’t have any Asian carriers.

I thought ANA flies to DEN from Japan.

dfwjim1 wrote:

rajincajun01 wrote:

dfwjim1 wrote:

Just curious as to why another Asian carrièr is needed at DEN. Are there a lot of people of Asian descent living in central Colorado?

Another? Denver doesn’t have any Asian carriers.

I thought ANA flies to DEN from Japan.

Negative, it's UA who does. United and ANA have a JV, so you would see and NH flight number as a codeshare, but the daily 787 to NRT has a globe on the tail and says "UNITED" on the fuselage.

EK would do great in DEN. The Indian population here is skyrocketing.

In regards to potential overcapacity to Europe, I wonder who would be the first to give in?

burnsie28 wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

jhsusman wrote:

It's been some time since we discussed what we thought would be next new destinations to/from Denver? United claims that they will be adding a lot of capacity to the market in the coming quarters (including bringing back the London flight) but does anyone have any interesting ideas of what's next for DEN? How about new international carriers?

I've heard KLM has expressed interest in opening AMS-DEN too (seems strange when SLC is close by)

Priort to the NW/DL merger I kept hearing rumors that AMS-DEN was high on the list to be served by either KLM A330 or NW A330.

Since DL moved to the A concourse (near the FIS), and built a SkyClub, I have to think that an international flight to AMS or CDG might be in the cards.

TWA772LR wrote:

EK would do great in DEN. The Indian population here is skyrocketing.

In regards to potential overcapacity to Europe, I wonder who would be the first to give in?

Edelweiss is my guess.

ScroogeMcDuck wrote:

burnsie28 wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

I've heard KLM has expressed interest in opening AMS-DEN too (seems strange when SLC is close by)

Priort to the NW/DL merger I kept hearing rumors that AMS-DEN was high on the list to be served by either KLM A330 or NW A330.

Since DL moved to the A concourse (near the FIS), and built a SkyClub, I have to think that an international flight to AMS or CDG might be in the cards.

DL used to have a Crown Room in Denver and had they stayed on C I think they could have got that space back. At the same time, even on A the club in in the center and none of the DL gates have access to customs directly. Neither of which are a big deal but at the same time having the SkyClub on the same concourse as the INTL gates would be beneficial. Unless they had done arrive at A and tow to C.

It’s been a number of months since any new international service from Denver has been announced - what’s next? Sounds like Aer Lingus isn’t happening in 2018. . .

Norwegian Air begins DEN-CDG today. DEN has tried unsuccessfully to court AF for over a decade but ultimately DY stepped in and filled the void. Over 200 people daily travel between Denver and Paris and yet only Norwegian files the route and its premium heavy. Even though DEN is star* and CDG is a weak spot for UA any chance AF, UA or DL will begin a direct flight? Surely we could do better than DY.

I wonder how the initial loads on the DEN - ZRH flights look - hopefully DEN gets the main line Swiss soon. I think the ZRH flight starts in a couple of months. . .

trexel94 wrote:

Norwegian Air begins DEN-CDG today. DEN has tried unsuccessfully to court AF for over a decade but ultimately DY stepped in and filled the void. Over 200 people daily travel between Denver and Paris and yet only Norwegian files the route and its premium heavy. Even though DEN is star* and CDG is a weak spot for UA any chance AF, UA or DL will begin a direct flight? Surely we could do better than DY.

So far, United has (disappointedly) shown very little interest in solidifying it's position in DEN, as a global carrier.

LHR was seemingly added as a token just to make the mayor and city council happy with the "home" carrier.

The Denver Business Journal had a few tidbits on their coverage of the CDG flights... pre-sales have been strong while the LGW flight has done, according to DY, "phenomenally well," and flights to BCN, MAD, and FCO are being examined.

https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news ... onday.html

jhsusman wrote:

I wonder how the initial loads on the DEN - ZRH flights look - hopefully DEN gets the main line Swiss soon. I think the ZRH flight starts in a couple of months. . .

It starts June 4th. I did a dummy booking on the WK website. Its hard to fully gauge loads since they charge extra for chosing your seat. The seat map for the first two weeks of service only show an average 25% occupancy for economy class but it doesn't take into account the passengers who booked a flight but didnt pay extra for seating choice so occupancy could be higher. On the bright side, business class has sold well (by WK standards).

Edelweiss/Swiss doesn't make it easy for American travellers to utilize the flight. You book your ticket on the Swiss website then go to the Edelweiss site for seat selection ( weird and inefficient) and you cant book the flight as codeshare from United ether (Don't they want connecting traffic too?)

I guess WK primarily intends this flight to be an O/D shuttle for Swiss tourists. It's annoying because Edelweiss is a great airline and few US airports can boast nonstop to ZRH. I sincerely hope this route succeeds.

I still think that as far as the Middle East goes, Turkish would be a solid fit at DEN. It's Star hub to Star hub, opens up a lot of destinations one stop, and isn't super premium heavy. It's also the only United hub Turkish doesn't service.

jetmatt777 wrote:

trexel94 wrote:

Norwegian Air begins DEN-CDG today. DEN has tried unsuccessfully to court AF for over a decade but ultimately DY stepped in and filled the void. Over 200 people daily travel between Denver and Paris and yet only Norwegian files the route and its premium heavy. Even though DEN is star* and CDG is a weak spot for UA any chance AF, UA or DL will begin a direct flight? Surely we could do better than DY.

So far, United has (disappointedly) shown very little interest in solidifying it's position in DEN, as a global carrier.

LHR was seemingly added as a token just to make the mayor and city council happy with the "home" carrier.

I don't know how much the city had to do with the LHR flight. I'm sure they are ecstatic that UA is back on DEN-LHR, sure, but I think UA restarting DEN-LHR was primarily a reactionary move to DY announcing LGW and then CDG in fairly rapid succession.

Dusting off this thread......

Did DIA ever decide on what to do after A, B and C are fully built out? Will they build D and E, or are they going to build the two new linear concourses adjacent to the Jeppesen Terminal first and delay D and E?

Fargo wrote:

Dusting off this thread......

Did DIA ever decide on what to do after A, B and C are fully built out? Will they build D and E, or are they going to build the two new linear concourses adjacent to the Jeppesen Terminal first and delay D and E?

They're leaving both options open, but the most recent master plan favors building the east and west concourses first before building D and E much later. They could ultimately build all of them for a total of seven concourses and ~300 gates.

A big stumbling block to building D is that it will require a substantial increase in capacity to the train system, and that won't be easy. The current train is already pretty much maxed out as it is. Sometimes, it has been so busy that I have to wait for a second or third train before even getting on one after security.

Here's the executive summary of the Master Plan Update, which is from 2012. Pretty much all the projects on the 0-10 year plan on page 24 have already been finished or will be finished by 2022 as planned: the hotel, RTD station, terminal redesign, and the concourse expansions.

https://www.flydenver.com/sites/default ... ummary.pdf

The 11-20 year plan (starting from 2012, remember) shows A/B/C fully maxed out, a new south terminal expansion above/next to the RTD station, and the east and west concourses. So we're looking at 2022-2032 for those projects. I can't find a timeline for anything beyond that, but the ultimate buildout of the airport shows all seven concourses including D, E, east, and west.

It will be interesting to see how the east and west concourses will be connected to everything else. I haven't seen that specified anywhere. Another people mover train would probably be expensive and complex, but a tunnel with moving walkways all the way across would sure take a long time and would be a pretty dreary walk.

intotheair wrote:

Fargo wrote:

Dusting off this thread......

Did DIA ever decide on what to do after A, B and C are fully built out? Will they build D and E, or are they going to build the two new linear concourses adjacent to the Jeppesen Terminal first and delay D and E?

They're leaving both options open, but the most recent master plan favors building the east and west concourses first before building D and E much later. They could ultimately build all of them for a total of seven concourses and ~300 gates.

A big stumbling block to building D is that it will require a substantial increase in capacity to the train system, and that won't be easy. The current train is already pretty much maxed out as it is. Sometimes, it has been so busy that I have to wait for a second or third train before even getting on one after security.

Here's the executive summary of the Master Plan Update, which is from 2012. Pretty much all the projects on the 0-10 year plan on page 24 have already been finished or will be finished by 2022 as planned: the hotel, RTD station, terminal redesign, and the concourse expansions.

https://www.flydenver.com/sites/default ... ummary.pdf

The 11-20 year plan (starting from 2012, remember) shows A/B/C fully maxed out, a new south terminal expansion above/next to the RTD station, and the east and west concourses. So we're looking at 2022-2032 for those projects. I can't find a timeline for anything beyond that, but the ultimate buildout of the airport shows all seven concourses including D, E, east, and west.

It will be interesting to see how the east and west concourses will be connected to everything else. I haven't seen that specified anywhere. Another people mover train would probably be expensive and complex, but a tunnel with moving walkways all the way across would sure take a long time and would be a pretty dreary walk.

Thanks for the info.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the East/West Concourses. I think they'd be better off simply building D (and E if necessary). Yeah, it may not be as convenient for O&D, but they already have the space and it would disrupt existing operations less. Who would go into the East/West Concourses? If it is O&D they are concerned about, why not improve A to be more O&D friendly?

Plus, how many gates does DEN ultimately need? After the current expansions, they will have roughly 176 (if I am doing my math correctly) and there will still be room to expand A and C a little bit to the east and west respectively. They could have roughly 200 when A, B and C are fully built out, almost as much as ATL does today. IMO, building out A, B and C, then constructing part of D and expanding it when necessary would give the airport adequate gate capacity for the next several decades, no need for the East/West Concourses. And the train will need to be upgraded/expanded regardless, so why not bite the bullet and do it now?

trexel94 wrote:

I've read from a Denver newspaper that DEN was trying to get CPH presumably through SAS or DY. Also ICN was high on the list too along with BOG. What are the odds of DEN getting these routes?

If I had to guess SAS would try to operate ARN-DEN instead. They operate ARN-LAX right now plus there is an unusually high amount of Swedish Americans in Colorado (2.6% ancestry statewide).

"DL used to have a Crown Room in Denver and had they stayed on C I think they could have got that space back. At the same time, even on A the club in in the center and none of the DL gates have access to customs directly. Neither of which are a big deal but at the same time having the SkyClub on the same concourse as the INTL gates would be beneficial. Unless they had done arrive at A and tow to C."

DL moved to the A concourse shortly after I moved to DEN in 2016. That was the same year they launched LAX-DEN which is now operated by mainline aircraft. I believe the club is a former part of the CO President's Club (split between the Admirals Club and USO Lounge.) Great club with lots of space but it's beyond annoying there are no bathrooms in the club and are shared with the other lounges and to the public. They get noisy and dirty very quickly.