The world’s largest passenger aircraft — the Airbus A380, a double-decker whale of a plane — has never landed at Denver International Airport, one of the nation’s largest airports.
And as of now, even with projections for continued population growth in Denver and across Colorado and DIA’s increasing notoriety as a worldwide hub, it doesn’t look like the behemoth is coming to the Mile High City anytime soon.
So what are the chances travelers will get a chance to ride on the A380 to or from DIA in the near future? They look to be pretty slim.
With domestic passenger airlines phasing out the nearly-as-large Boeing 747 by year’s end — United had its last 747 flight on Nov. 7, which came on the heels of a farewell at DIA — large planes are falling out of style across the nation and world.
Carriers are opting instead for more fuel-efficient wide-body planes, from the Boeing 777 and 787 to the Airbus A350 and A330.
Two carriers that fly the A380 operate out of Denver — British Airways and Lufthansa — but they probably won’t use the plane on their routes to Colorado anytime soon.
“We are always talking with airlines,” said DIA spokesman Heath Montgomery, adding that the airport has been in conversations with A380 operator Emirates. “It’s really about the economics of each flight and whether that’s the most cost-effective option for them.”
DIA’s six runways, including one that is among the longest in the U.S., are all certified to handle an A380, although the plane — should it ever come to Denver — would probably have limited taxiing routes on the tarmac.
“We do have a plan in place to accommodate it,” Montgomery said.
Howard Mann, vice president of the Virginia-based Campbell-Hill Aviation Group, said dollars and cents drive airline decisions about where to fly their A380s, which can carry more than 500 passengers. Their considerations include route popularity, passenger interest in the aircraft’s high number of business and first-class seats, and efficiency.
The A380, which has a wingspan of 261 feet and is 238 feet long and nearly 80 feet tall, takes dozens of flight attendants and ground staff to keep the plane running and flying smoothly.
“Every airline has to make a business decision about what’s the role of that destination in their network,” he said.
Lufthansa and British Airways, for instance, have about two dozen A380s between them, using those planes to ferry passengers to long-haul destinations such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Hong Kong and Johannesburg. Some airlines use the massive plane as a high-capacity solution to their limited landing slots at Asian destinations.
There are also reports that Airbus is struggling to sell the A380 and that the plane builder could stop producing the super-jumbo jet.
Middle East carriers, such as Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways, may look to fly an A380 into Denver, but that, Mann says, is only likely if there are established business or educational ties to their home countries — for instance, if a major company opens in Denver that has operations or trade in Dubai, or if the state’s universities and colleges begin to draw a large number of students from the region.
“The A380, it’s all about the economics,” he said.
