A Tour of Denver International Airport

This year was my first opportunity to visit Denver International Airport (the old Stapleton International Airport) since it’s construction and opening on February 28, 1995. This enormous airport, designed and engineered by Fentress Bradburn Architects, sits on 33,457 acres and it’s main terminal is more than 1.5 million square feet — literally the equivalent in diameter to more than eight football fields, which is pretty impressive! While this more than $4.8 billion dollar construction beast was roughly sixteen months behind schedule in its creation, it was and is still triumphed for having the most technologically advanced rail and baggage handling system ever created with underground tunnels that offer a rail and baggage handling schema that remains to be of the most advanced and with the utmost highest technology available at the time. “During [it’s] construction” the international airport “ was plagued with” a multitude of large scale issues…from “design problems, financial problems, and a strike by metalworkers were among the hurdles that had to be overcome”. And so they did.

Aside from the airports grandeur main terminal, the international airport also has three pathways in which passengers gain access to and board their flights, referred to as Concourses — A, B and C. The only Concourse that passengers are permissible to walk to would be Concourse A, while Concourses B and C are only accessible via the light rail. There are plans in the near future to add two additional Concourses (D and E) and will exclusively cater to international flights only. More than 40 million people pass through the halls of this megaplex each and every year and makes Denver International Airport the 5th largest airport in the United States and 20th in the world. The main terminal has been under construction for some time and is set to continue through 2021 and makes navigation a bit more challenging (actually, significantly more) and one could easily walk the same circle consecutively three times before find their way to their respective areas.

My favorite part of this extraordinary airport is just off the main Jeppesen Terminal and under what most consider to be a conglomerate of massive white tents — which are actually constructed from fiberglass suspended by pylons and said to mirror peaks of mountains. It’s referred to as OPEN-Air Plaza and is the opening to the Westin Denver International Airport and Hotel, available for private venues as it can accommodate up to 2,000 people comfortably. It’ absolutely extraordinary! Clean, fresh air, sparkling green and lush in its’ appearance turf that is soft enough to actually rub your feet through, futon-style, yet ergonomic seating areas scattered about with lounge cushions, at least two complimentary putting stations for guests and visitors to keep you at the top of your golf game, spacious abounds you and is all overlooked by hotel guests, airline pilots, onlookers and others behind floor after floor of beveled glass windows — very exquisite and very plush!

I certainly hope you too will have the privilege and opportunity of passing through the nation’s 5th largest airport as it really is something to behold and an unforgettable experience!

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Love your photos and write-up, @CatC !

Having travelled through this airport and being in awe of some of the features you described, I still learned something today. Thank you for the informative post. What were some of your favorite shops or restaurants there?

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Thank you very much :slightly_smiling_face: for the compliment @JordanSB and thank you for sharing as well. What I found I enjoyed the most, aside from the loads of shops outside of the main terminal (although Starbucks is ALWAYS my #1 shop!!) was the fascinating Native American artwork and murals! It was absolutely extraordinary — I just could not stop staring at them displayed so nicely and reading all the detailed descriptive captions really just blew my mind.

Do you have any memorable or favorite shops (attraction) that you found at DIA?

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Hi @CatC ,

This is a beautiful airport, wow! I’ve never been to Denver, but your photos are amazing! I sure wouldn’t mind having some hours to spend there. Do you often travel?

The architecture is simply stunning and I love the artwork everywhere. I think the airport that amazed me most so far has been in Munich.

Thanks for sharing!

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Hi, @CatC !

I loved the Native American art installations, touches that point to the area’s mining history (mine carts and tracks), plus they have great gift shops like Greetings from Colorado. They also have good food stops like a Ben & Jerry’s, a chocolate shop, and a cookie stand, and they have the Boulder Tap Room for good beer.

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