Paula Berg, a spokeswoman for Southwest Airlines said, "To come in and be able to lower prices and increase service is exactly what we try to do. Obviously we are benefiting by being in Denver, but it's the consumer who really wins. Lower fares allow more people to travel."
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Traffic between Denver International Airport and the three cities likely would've increased even without Southwest, as United Airlines and Frontier Airlines already had boosted the number of seats available on the routes.
But Southwest appears to have been a key driver. In the carrier's first three months here:
• Overall passenger traffic from DIA to the destinations ballooned 62 percent compared with the same period in the previous year.
• Traffic from Denver to Phoenix surged 70 percent, while average fares plunged 37.5 percent. One-way fares to Phoenix before Southwest's arrival cost about $128. They averaged $80 in this year's first quarter, which means consumers were paying roughly $100 less for a round-trip flight than a year before.
• The number of passengers flying from Denver to Las Vegas and Chicago jumped 55 percent. The average fare to Las Vegas fell 28 percent, while prices to Chicago dipped 18 percent.
• Southwest carried nearly 26 percent of the total traffic to the three cities and garnered a 5.28 percent market share in Denver, according to the data.
Industry observers say they are not surprised by Southwest's effect in Denver. The carrier often lowers fares dramatically when it enters a new city, helping generate more traffic on other airlines, which typically reduce their prices to match Southwest's fares.
United and Frontier - Denver's dominant carriers - saw large passenger gains on the routes as well, some of which can be attributed to Southwest's presence.
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