Denver International Airport

Denver International Airport is the third-busiest airport in the United States and one of the largest airports in the world by land area. DEN sits about 25 miles northeast of downtown Denver and handles around 77 million passengers per year. The airport is a major hub for United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, plus a significant Frontier Airlines hub given Frontier's Denver-based operation. DEN is famous for its distinctive tent-like Jeppesen Terminal roof, inspired by the Rocky Mountains. The airport's altitude of 5,431 feet above sea level requires longer runways than lower-elevation airports because aircraft need more ground speed to generate the same lift in thinner air. DEN has some of the longest commercial runways in the world, including Runway 16R/34L at 16,000 feet. The high altitude also means aircraft performance is more weight-sensitive, which affects the economics of specific routes. DEN handles a significant volume of connecting traffic between East Coast cities and the Mountain West, plus direct service to destinations including Hawaii, Europe, and a growing number of Asian markets.