DIA sets traffic record in 2007

A total of 49,863,352 passengers used Denver International Airport (DIA) in 2007, shattering the previous record that was set just the year before. The 2007 total was 5.4 percent higher than the 47,326,506 travelers recorded at DIA in 2006.   

The 2007 total was helped by a record December, when 3,886,366 passengers used the airport. The December total, the highest ever for that month at DIA, was a hefty 12.9 percent more than the 3,442,677 travelers who passed through DIA in the same month of 2006.

“The builders of DIA estimated the capacity of the airport’s first phase at 50 million passengers a year, and we’re nudging that number right now,” Aviation Manager Turner West said Thursday. “We are in the process of updating the airport master plan so we will have some guidance about the type of infrastructure construction and improvements that will be needed to accommodate our expected growth well into the future.”

The number of flights at DIA also surged in December, rising 11.9 percent to 51,798.  That brought the total number of flights in 2007 to 619,314, an increase of 1.6 percent over 2006.

The complete traffic report is available on DIA’s Web site.