OREANDA-NEWS. Construction has begun at Denver International Airport (DIA) to expand the existing C Concourse to the west, adding five new gates. This new 39,000 square-foot extension of the C Concourse and will be designed as an airy, light-filled, easy-to-navigate space. Southwest Airlines plans to relocate their existing gates on the A Concourse to the C Concourse where the majority of their flights are currently located. Construction of the new gate area is expected to be completed in November 2014. The five new gates will be C23 through C27.

“Denver International Airport is vibrant, strong and growing. Our gates are fully leased, and in order to accommodate Southwest Airlines' quick and steady growth in Denver, we need to add five gates,” said Manager of Aviation Kim Day. “Denver ranks as Southwest Airline's fastest-growing station in the carrier's history. They have grown their business from January 2006, when they offered 13 daily flights to three destinations to a Denver network today of more than 160 daily flights to nearly 60 nonstop destinations.”

Three contractors will work on the USD 46 million expansion. The project will be paid for using Airport Capital Improvement Project funds, which are generated through airport revenues, not the city's general fund or taxpayer money. Contracts include work on the building, apron paving and interior work. One contractor, Milender White, was selected among the existing on-call contractors with the lowest bid for building the foundation, walls, windows and roof work. The second contractor, IHC, was selected through a competitive bid process for apron concrete paving, where the aircraft will taxi and park. The third contract for the building interior and HVAC (heating ventilation and air conditioning) systems will be bid among existing on-call contractors this month.