A breath of fresh air at Denver International Airport
By Tom Adkinson
July 30, 2021

Denver International Airport patio; image by Tom Adkinson

DENVER, Colorado – The map of Concourse B at Denver International Airport seems like a tease – it offers an escape to the outdoors without clearing security, potentially making that long layover you were dreading more tolerable.

Through the door is a setting that almost could be a sunning terrace on a cruise ship minus the ocean, of course. You are totally outdoors, there’s a high glass wall around the perimeter of the space and the view is spectacular, although in this case, it’s a view of jet airplanes on taxiways and the Rocky Mountains in the distance. There are lounge chairs (not hard airport benches), a fire pit and fresh air.

This is the first of three such terraces at DEN, according to public information officer Alex Renteria. The one open now seats 85 people, and the other two, which are to open in the coming months, will accommodate 150. The terraces are part of an expansion program that is adding 39 gates to an airport that opened in 1995.

A handful of other airports around the world offer similar outdoor retreats. Among the ones Renteria cited are Austin, Atlanta, New York (JFK) and Los Angeles in the U.S. and Zurich, Amsterdam and Frankfurt in Europe.