USA. Denver International Airport reported a record year for passenger traffic in 2017 reaching over 61 million, a +5.3% increase on 2016, as it readies for a five-year development plan.
The airport also reached a milestone US$1 billion in gross revenue in 2017, fuelled by increases in passenger traffic and revenues from concessions and rental cars.
International passenger growth more than doubled the overall traffic increase, rising +12.5% year-on-year to a high of 2.59 million.
“Denver International Airport benefitted from unprecedented investment by our airline partners in 2017,” said Denver International Airport CEO Kim Day.
“New service announcements, increased capacity on existing routes and continued robust economic growth propelled our passenger traffic to reach historic levels, and we look forward to continuing this trend into 2018.”
This year, the airport will embark on a US$3.5 billion, five-year capital plan to accommodate growing passenger traffic over the next decade.
As part of that plan, the airport will relocate TSA security and upgrade its flagship Jeppesen Terminal in its first public-private partnership.
The 34-year, US$1.8 billion development agreement with the Great Hall Partners consortium will begin construction this summer. The project includes a US$650 million renovation/improvement to the terminal over four years, and a 30-year agreement for the Great Hall Partners to oversee operations of the terminal concessions.
The Great Hall project aims to create a new, modern airport experience. It will relocate and improve TSA security; consolidate and reconfigure the airline ticket counters; and redesign the shopping, dining and overall passenger experience. This plan will also increase capacity and replace ageing systems.
Milestones for the project include finalising ticket counters in early 2020 and opening the TSA security later that year. The entire project will complete with the reopening of the full tented area in late 2021.
