Denver International Airport Entertaining And Efficient

If you can stop worrying about your luggage for a minute, stop and take a look around the new Denver International Airport. This is one airport you actually could get to like.

Bright and airy, with amenities galore and lots to look at, it’s an airport that’s so entertaining you don’t realize it’s being efficient at the same time.

The airport opened in March, 16 months behind schedule, after well-publicized problems with its baggage handling system. Passengers flying through for the first time will find the layout similar to Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport, with a main terminal and parallel concourses behind it. The concourses are reached by underground train.

But the similarities end there. In other airports, such as those in Atlanta and Seattle, the trains arrive in dark dungeon-like waystations. At DIA, passengers emerge into bright, multistory atriums with natural light and intriguing artwork.

The history of transportation - complete with soaring railroad tracks - is depicted in Concourse A; United’s Concourse B contains a giant frame of metal and neon with a moving sidewalk down the middle. Concourse C, the airport’s smallest, features a living garden with Native American influences.

The automated trains join in the fun, playing brief, whimsical - dare we say Disneyesque? - melodies before they arrive or depart. And even the train tunnels feature artwork: Outbound travelers see a series of small propellers that turn as the trains speed by; inbound passengers see a variety of objects whose shapes seem to change.

If you’re just changing planes - as are the majority of Denver’s passengers - you’ll miss the giant Jeppesen Terminal, the tented pavilion that is the airport’s trademark. Its spires reach 126 feet into the air; walls of windows on both ends of the expanse offer dramatic views of the plains and the Rockies.

Marble floors feature wing shapes that subtly point passengers toward security and other key areas. Bright colors, abundant plants and the overall openness make it a soulmate of John Wayne Airport in California and other new air terminals.

The two-story building is lined with everything from fast-food outlets to bookstores, even an art gallery; the comparison to a mall is unavoidable. Yet in design and decor the building goes much further. The soaring, staggered roof lifts visitors’ spirits skyward. A kitschy photo display of U.S. tourist traps is delightful. And the pedestrian bridge linking the main terminal to Concourse A is tall enough to allow jets to pass underneath. It’s a unique viewpoint in a rare building where travelers will actually enjoy having time to spare.

Inside, each of the concourses has unusually wide moving sidewalks from end to end; United’s Concourse B - DIA’s largest has two sidewalks in each direction.

Overhead signs are clear and plentiful - and even point the way to gates that today are just ideas on the drawing board (Concourse A, for instance, houses only Gates A27 to A53, but signs lead the eventual way to A1-A99).

There are three levels of street access: one for arrivals, one for departures and one for taxis and shuttle buses. And though your Denver pals may gripe about the airport’s location 23 miles from downtown, it’s a short hop for those of us with California-sized commutes.

The last entirely new U.S. airport was Dallas-Fort Worth; it seemed state-of-the-art when it debuted in 1974. But that was before deregulation and before airline hubs became a necessity. Today DFW’s semicircular, concrete terminals may be imposing, but it is inefficient, the layout confusing.

In Denver, the airfield was planned as a major hub (United holds the lion’s share of flights; Continental’s presence is minimal) and has the makings to be a model of efficiency. Getting there may never really be half the fun. But it might not be quite as painful if DIA works as well as it looks.