OREANDA-NEWS. Passenger traffic at Denver International Airport (DIA) declined slightly in February compared to the same time last year, with 3.69 million passengers traveling through the airport. Overall passenger traffic at DIA declined 2.3 percent, with 3,693,876 passengers in February 2015 compared to 3,779,715 passengers in February 2014.

The decline is primarily due to capacity reductions made by Frontier Airlines, which is transitioning to an ultra-low-cost carrier. Frontier's total passenger traffic at DIA declined 31 percent compared to February 2014, with the airline serving 45 destinations from Denver compared to 57 destinations a year ago.

"Frontier's continued contraction in Denver is having an impact on our overall traffic," Denver International Airport CEO, Kim Day said. "This capacity reduction is being partially mitigated by United Airlines and Southwest. United has increased destinations and saw its busiest February since 2010. Southwest Airlines continues to increase capacity and load factors in Denver."

International passenger traffic also declined slightly by 1.7 percent, with 184,913 international passengers in February 2015, compared to 188,095 passengers in February 2014. Additionally, mail, freight and express cargo operations handled 43,089,499 pounds of cargo in February, an increase of 14.3 percent over the same time last year.