Southwest Airlines is seeking room for a major expansion of its operations at Denver International Airport (DIA).
The Denver Post reports that Southwest, which currently has 24 gates in DIA’s Concourse C, is asking the Denver City Council to lease an additional 16 gates. If approved, Southwest would control all 40 gates in the soon-to-be-expanded concourse.
“This will support our long-term growth plans,” said Southwest spokesman Dan Landson.
The new gates, being built as part of a $1.5 billion expansion project at the airport, are expected to be operational in 2022.
The request comes on the heels of the Denver government unanimously approving United Airlines’ request for a 24-gate lease expansion last month. If Southwest’s leases are approved, it would leave just 10 gates unspoken for at the airport. Frontier Airlines, the other carrier with major hub operations in Denver, could be one suitor for the remaining gates.
Southwest began operations at DIA in 2006 with just 13 daily departures; the airline now has 250 departures daily and serves 69 destinations from Denver.
