United Airlines has announced a big expansion out of Denver, where it will soon launch 35 additional flights and six new destinations. The expansion will be delivered through 12 new gates, bringing United’s total to 90 gates across Denver International Airport – more than any other carrier (including Southwest).
The carrier is bolstering its position out of the Colorado city in a bid to grab hold of so-called retained millennials who are settled in their careers and have plenty of disposable income to spend. Data supplied by United claims that Denver is one of America’s fastest-growing cities and is attracting well-paid professionals into the area.
United says it is pumping $1 billion to improve its experience in Denver, which already includes a new check-in lobby, new-look gates and a new grab-n-go club concept that has been dubbed United Club Fly.
The airline is also revamping two existing United Clubs in the carrier’s signature lounge style, while a third brand new club is set to open later this year in the A Concourse. One of the two lounges in the B Concourse will be the largest in the United lounge network.
“Denver is one of the fastest growing cities in the country and as the Mile High City’s most flown airline, it’s essential that we maintain the most modern infrastructure and fleet to support our local employees and customers and deliver a great experience,” commented United CEO Scott Kirby ahead of an official celebration at the airport on Tuesday.
“ort our local employees and customers and deliver a great experience,” said United CEO Scott Kirby. “Our expansion in Denver will further enable us to connect our customers to destinations across the globe and revitalize our presence at the airport with modern, customer-friendly offerings,” Kirby continued.
United has been battling it out against Southwest over which airline actually has the biggest presence in Denver, with both airlines running separate ad campaigns seemingly claiming the same thing.
Southwest, however, was mocked by United for using out-of-date data. Southwest had already used data that only included locally departing passengers, whereas United is claiming to be the largest airline in Denver based on passenger numbers by also using transfer passengers stats.
United plans to utilize its Boeing 737MAX on new routes to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Montego Bay, Jamaica, while the jet will also be used to increase capacity on existing routes to Miami, Austin, Boston and Atlanta.
By the summer, United boasts that it will fly to 150 destinations from Denver across more than 450 daily departures. In a subtle dig at Southwest, the carrier says that’s “more than 50% more flights and destinations than the airline’s nearest competitor.”
United also brags that it operates more international flights from Denver than any other airline – a total of 18 destinations, including to Europe and Japan. The airline is also the only carrier to operate flights from Denver to Hawaii.
