Busy Day & Snow Complicate Holiday Travel At DIA
DENVER (CBS4)- Snow removal crews worked to clear snow from runways and paved surfaces at Denver International Airport on what is typically one of the busiest travel days of the year.
About 170,000 travelers are expected to make their way through DIA each day Thursday and Friday, making those two days some of the busiest of the season. That fact, coupled with the Winter Storm could cause some delays for passengers departing and arriving at the airport.
About 7 inches of snow has fallen at the airport since Wednesday night. An additional three inches is expected for the rest of the day.
Snow removal crews have been working since Wednesday evening clearing runways, taxiways, ramp areas and roadways. Thursday afternoon they were in clean up mode.
Full deice operations will remain in effect through Thursday. Passengers are advised they may expect delays up to one hour on their aircraft after pushing back from the gate to undergo deicing operations. That may delay passengers getting to their destinations or making a connecting flight in time.
There have been a total of 114 cancelled flights, 67 arrivals and 47 departures. The majority of those were commuter flights going to rural or mountain towns.
DIA expects a total of 1,888 flight operations, both departures and arrivals today.
DIA urges airline passengers to check with their airlines for updated flight information prior to heading to the airport.
Anyone driving to DIA should allow plenty of extra travel time and should drive with caution.
Frontier Airlines and United Airlines offered fee waivers to travelers scheduled to travel Dec. 21 or Dec. 22. For Frontier passengers, rules and restrictions regarding standard change fees, advance purchase, day or time applications, blackouts, and minimum or maximum stay requirements have been waived. Origin and destination cities must remain the same. Changes must be made by midnight, Dec. 22, 2011, and travel completed by Jan. 11, 2012.
