All’s Fare in Airport Wars : Lower Ticket Prices at Colorado Springs Are Luring Travelers From Denver’s New $4.9-Billion Facility

John and Judy Nesavich of Denver began their family trip tothe Northwest by driving south 80 miles to Colorado Springs Municipal Airport.

They boarded a United Airlines flight, flew back to the new Denver International Airport and, after a two-hour layover, flew on to Seattle.

The downside: a circuitous, time-consuming route.

The upside: a $948 savings for three round-trip tickets over the cost of traveling the same airline from DIA.

“Bottom line, it’s much, much cheaper,” Judy Nesavich said.

The Nesavich family isn’t alone. Even with DIA 45 minutes away or less, thousands of Denver-area residents are taking the hour-plus drive to the much smaller Colorado Springs Airport to save hundreds of dollars on tickets.

Aviation industry analyst Michael Boyd estimates that 250,000 travelers will choose Colorado Springs over DIA during the next year, costing the Denver airport about $4.5 million in revenue. He based his figures on summer traffic studies.

“We predicted this in 1990, that the costs of DIA would have two effects: They would drive air service to use Colorado Springs and then would drive consumers to use Colorado Springs,” said Boyd, of Aviation Systems Research Corp. in Golden. “DIA will guarantee that this traffic will stay in Colorado Springs.”

The fare rivalry underscores the stark contrast between Colorado’s newest airports.

On an expanse of rolling hills in southern Colorado Springs is the city’s newly renovated airport, which opened in October on time and within its $140-million budget.

The overhaul included a new two-story, 12-gate terminal that bustles with 10 airlines, including three new this year. Nonstop destinations total 22, up from eight in 1994.

Passenger traffic is up 38% to 623,044 as of July, largely because of the start-up of low-cost Western Pacific Airlines.

“It’s a community dream for the community’s airport to have this kind of rapid development, and it’s not just a flash in the pan,” said airport manager Gary Green.

About 80 miles to the north lies the $4.9-billion DIA, a massive, architecturally eye-catching structure with a white-peak tent roof resembling a circus big top.

Although DIA has proved efficient for air traffic, its image is tarnished. It was $3.2 billion over budget and opened 16 months late, in part because its automated baggage system chewed up luggage in early tests. The automated system now serves only United Airlines; a traditional tug-and-cart system serves the rest of DIA.

Parking structures and subway trains are crowded, and heavy traffic often clogs Interstate 70 to DIA, which is 23 miles from downtown.

From March to June, passenger traffic dropped 6% to 10 1/2 million, which Denver Aviation director Jim DeLong blames on the closure of Continental Airlines’ Denver hub.

For consumers the big nuisance is a 46% increase in air fares since DIA replaced Denver’s Stapleton International Airport.

Boyd, a longtime critic of DIA, and others say the increase has occurred because of the fees DIA charges airlines--among the highest in the nation, averaging $18 per passenger. Although city officials announced earlier this month they were lowering the fees, the reduction amounts to only about 50 cents a passenger.

The airlines were charged $5.27 at Stapleton, and the Colorado Springs airport charges an average of $3 per passenger, Boyd said.

Denver Aviation’s DeLong noted that air fares are also going up across the country. He cited the American Express Domestic Airfare Index, which found one-way air fares jumped 15% nationwide from January to June.

He said the other factor in the high fares out of Denver is less competition since Continental cut back. United owns 69% of the Denver market today. The second-largest carrier is Delta Airlines, with 4.7%.

“I would suggest to you that we would have the same phenomenon at Stapleton today as we have at DIA, because air fares go up when there’s less competition,” DeLong said.

DIA has three low-cost carriers, but they are struggling to compete against United. City officials are working feverishly to attract additional airlines.

As the battle continues, Colorado Springs keeps ringing up ticket sales.

“I am really proud of DIA. I think it’s a wonderful place, but they’ve got to wake up and be competitive or they are going to lose business,” said Myrna Snodgrass of Jefferson County. She saved $682 on a recent trip to Houston by flying Western Pacific from Colorado Springs instead of a DIA airline.