Denver International Airport ready for Airbus A380 arrivals

These flights are managed at nearly 150 gates with more than 20 apron-load positions for regional flights. The average daily number of passengers at DEN last year was over 213,000. However, handling an A380 requires special attention due to its size and wingspan.

Many airports cannot accommodate the A380 due to its typical capacity of 500-600 passengers and need for specially configured gates with multiple jetways for efficient boarding and disembarkation.

DEN’s A380-capable gates are located at the A concourse housing international carriers. Nicholas Pizzato, an aviation enthusiast working at DEN, posted on Facebook debunking myths about DEN's ability to handle an A380: “For those curious: YES! DEN does, in fact, have a gate capable of handling an A380! A41W used to have a stop line marking for the A380 in years past...the marking had been removed...[but] returned!”

A spokesperson from DEN confirmed that gate markings were repainted recently: “Gates A37W and A41W are both striped for A380s.” Despite this capability, only one A380 has landed there due to a medical emergency in 2018 involving an Air France aircraft that could not use a gate because there was no pushback bar available at that time.

British Airways and Lufthansa currently operate the A380 but use other widebody planes on their regular routes from European hubs like the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Whether these gates will see regular use by an A380 remains uncertain.

“Whether this stop line and gate will ever see use for the type is another story,” Pizzato noted. “But it’s ready and waiting if/when the day comes!”