Denver International Airport (DEN) recorded 32.2 million passengers in H1 2022, a 30.2% surge from the same period last year.
The figure is only 1.6% lower than the first half of 2019.
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Passenger numbers in the first three months (February, March and April) surpassed the traffic in H1 2019.
DEN said that its passenger volume recovery is among the top versus peer large-hub airports. This was primarily attributed due to the high demand for travel to and from Denver, as well as an uptick in connecting passenger traffic.
Domestic passenger traffic was down by just 1.5% as against the same period in 2019.
International passenger numbers dropped by 4% compared with the first half of 2019.
June 2022 was the busiest month in terms of international passenger footfall.
During H1 2022, origination and destination passengers at DEN represented 59.2% of the total volume, while connecting passenger traffic was 40.8% of the total traffic.
In the first half of the year, the airport’s domestic network reported nonstop flights to 189 destinations in 46 states.
Cargo volumes surpassed 340Mlb in H1 2022, a 6.7% rise from the corresponding period in 2019.
DEN CEO Phil Washington said: “Through continued investment by our airline partners, DEN’s passenger traffic growth remains strong as we work to return to pre-pandemic passenger levels.
“We are optimistic about our passenger growth for the remainder of the year and expect to finish close to or slightly above our 2019 record of 69 million passengers.
“As we welcome back more passengers, we remain focused on ensuring a positive customer experience for our passengers and sustainably expanding our facility as we approach historic levels of demand.”
In May, DEN launched 16 new gates on Concourse C for use by Southwest Airlines.
