Denver International Airport history

The new airport, named Denver Municipal Airport (DMA), celebrated its opening with a four-day program of events, from October 17 to October 20, 1929.

Yet by the end of 1930, its first full year of service, DMA was already turning a profit, with thirty takeoffs and landings registered every day and three new companies signing on to provide service: Carlos Reavis Service, Eddie Brooks Service, and Western Flying Service.

In January 1931 city and airport officials constructed a new hangar, initiating a fifty-year run of continuous growth.

DMA was renamed Stapleton Airfield on August 25, 1944.

However, when Stapleton left office, new mayor James Newton (1947–55) abandoned the expensive plan because the city had yet to experience the forecasted postwar aviation boom.

Hoping to provide a better life for his growing family, Captain Green, then with the 32th Air Rescue Squadron at Johnson Air Force Base in Tokyo, Japan, resigned from the Air Force in 1957 and sought employment as an airline pilot.

The first jet flight out of Denver took off on May 6, 1959—a Continental Boeing 707.

In 1964 the airport was renamed Stapleton International Airport, reflecting its steady growth.

Planning for the future of Stapleton had been going on since 1989, beginning with the Stapleton Tomorrow process and culminating with the Stapleton Development Plan.

The airport was dedicated on March 19, 1994, and a capstone was placed inside the airport to memorialize it.

28, 1995, construction had fallen 16 months behind schedule, and $2 billion over budget.

Construction of Denver's largest neighborhood broke ground in 2001.