Denton EDP Blog

Hustling and Bustling: Denton Airport Ranked Number Eight

Posted: 01/04/2012
Amanda McCormick

In recently published Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) data, the Denton Airport (DTO) was named the eighth busiest of the top 41 airports in Texas. DTO has an officially recorded 146, 924 operations for the year, which is a 15 percent increase from 2010. In November of this year alone, counted operations were at 12,146, an increase of 184 from the last November’s 11,962.

An ‘operation’ is the term for each aircraft landing and/or takeoff recorded by FAA tower operators. Ranging from passenger-plane-sized aircrafts to helicopters, DTO’s operations are significantly different than that of commercial airports (ie Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) or Love Field (DAL)). DTO deals with business and recreational aviation, as well as flight training. However, the airport is large enough and offers adequate service to be one of three ‘super reliever’ airports in the Metroplex, meaning that if a commercial flight must divert, DTO provides for safe landing.

To put it into perspective, according to the same set of data, DFW is ranked number one, and Dallas Love Field is number seven in operations. Due to the nature of their use, dealing primarily with scheduled passenger travel, their operation totals are higher. So, for Denton to just be right behind the two speaks volumes for our business climate and local economy.

So what’s this mean for DTO? They have to grow! According to Denton Airport Manager, Quentin Hix, they are currently operating at just under 60% capacity. So with the steady increase of operation, expansion is necessary. They already have plans underway to create another runway parallel to the one they have now in order to allow for more air traffic activity.

For more information about DTO developments, visit http://www.dentonedp.com/airport_development/airport_development.asp.

Still have questions? Contact Quentin Hix at (940) 349-7744.

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