Travel: Flights to Denver from Birmingham (bhx)

• Denver International Airport, (IATA: DEN, ICAO: KDEN). Commonly referred to as DIA. It is located about 20 miles to the east of downtown. It is a hub for both United Airlines and Continental arrilines as well as being served by most major domestic carriers.
  • Frontier Airlines. Discount carrier with its hub at DIA and service to and from San Francisco, the Twin Cities, and other US cities.
  • Jet Blue. Makes inexpensive flights to Denver from New York.

The airport is located amidst rolling plains, far from any conceivable local destination. A public skyRide bus goes to downtown Denver for $8 one way, $13 round-trip. The airport is often crowded due to its design of having a single central screening station, followed by a train that passengers must take for access to concourses B and C. It can take up to an hour to get from the ticket line to the gate, so travelers should get to the airport at least 1.5 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Private pilots will prefer Centennial Airport (ICAO: KAPA) south of town. Be aware that on warm days the density altitude may make takeoffs difficult; Centennial has long runways for this reason, and to accommodate a large volume of private jet traffic. Flight visibility in the Denver area is often in excess of 100 miles; weather fronts tend to travel quickly N-S along the front range. For small planes, any direction but West is a good choice.