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Monday, Aug. 4, 2025

Is Denver International Airport larger than the city of San Francisco?

Tyler Hickman, The Colorado Sun
yes

The 53-square-mile grounds of Denver International Airport are roughly 6 square miles larger than the entire city of San Francisco and more than twice the size of Manhattan.

The airport’s 34,000 acres of land house six runways — with room for up to 12 — combining for more than 14 miles of pavement that accommodated 82.4 million travelers last year — making the travel hub the sixth busiest airport in the world.

Only 18,000 acres of the property are considered “core aviation” land, leaving a large portion available for development. The airport looks to use this open space to build toward a goal of serving 100 million passengers annually by 2032.

Aviation in Colorado generates $69 billion in annual revenue, Department of Transportation figures show, with a lion’s share of $47.2 billion coming from Denver International Airport.

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