Denver airport asks council to approve 10 airline agreements for 2027
The proposed three-year agreements would preserve signatory access to gates and reduced airport charges, with two optional one-year extensions.
Denver International Airport is asking Denver City Council to approve 10 three-year agreements that would allow airlines to continue operating as signatory carriers when their current contracts expire at the end of 2026. The council’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is scheduled to consider the requests Sept. 16.
The proposed agreements would begin Jan. 1, 2027, and include two optional one-year extensions that Denver could exercise. The carriers are Air France, Icelandair, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, WestJet, Denver Air Connection, Air Canada, Cayman Airways, Copa Airlines and Alaska Airlines.
Signatory status gives airlines preferential access to gates and reduced airport charges. The agreements would use the airport’s Rates and Charges system, which is recalculated annually based on operating costs, debt service, amortization and projected aviation activity, with year-end reconciliation to actual costs. Charges can include landing fees, terminal-space rent, concourse ramp fees and passenger-train fees, according to the airport’s presentation to City Council.
The agreements would not guarantee particular routes or flight levels. The airport said they would support its Vision 100 goal of expanding global connections and provide more stability for airline revenue, bondholders and credit-rating agencies.
Denver International Airport reported 4,867,484 international passengers in 2025, an all-time high and a 4.8% increase from 2024. International travelers accounted for 5.9% of the airport’s 82.4 million passengers, according to the airport’s annual passenger-traffic release. The airport also reported $471.97 million in facility-rental revenue and $231.48 million in landing-fee revenue that year.
The 10 agreements are proposed contracts, not contracts already approved by City Council. Four other major airlines — United, Southwest, Frontier and Delta — have separate long-term agreements extending into the 2030s. United’s agreement runs through February 2035; Southwest’s and Delta’s are co-terminus with United’s, while Frontier’s runs through September 2034.
If approved, the 10 proposed agreements would take effect Jan. 1, 2027.