A thick fog that descended over Denver on Sunday caused a two-hour delay of Alex Quinn’s flight. Quinn flew in from Washington, D.C. Although she arrived two hours late, she had to wait only about 20 minutes for her bags.
“I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary. It’s normal holiday travel,” she said.
The fog kept 46 flights from landing at Denver International Airport, with most redirected to Colorado Springs Airport, said DIA spokeswoman Laura Cole. Passengers diverted there were then bused to DIA.
Wind also temporarily closed three of the airport’s six runways. Combined, weather created a two-hour travel backlog for most of the day.
Keith Bare, a Boulder airport transportation driver, said he had been to the airport three times Sunday and heard from his fellow drivers about passengers not getting baggage for hours after they landed.
“I don’t know how widespread it was, but there were definitely problems,” Bare said. “You couldn’t even see the terminal from the commercial vehicle lot. That’s how thick the fog was.”
Sunday and Monday are expected to be among the busiest travel days at DIA, with 166,000 passengers anticipated Sunday and 157,000 passengers predicted for Monday, Cole said.
Although many people were crowded around baggage claims Sunday evening, some said it was to be expected.
“Our flight was delayed a couple of hours, but it was nothing too bad,” said Blair Tetreault, who flew into Denver from Toronto.
In a 5 p.m. Sunday update, Cole said dropping temperatures were causing airlines to de-ice planes, adding time to takeoffs.
Travelers returning home by car also faced their own woes Sunday.
The Associated Press reported traffic was heavy on Interstate 70 through the mountains because of the holiday weekend and fresh snow that drew skiers to resorts, the Colorado Department of Transportation said.
Collisions also caused isolated highway delays.
Elizabeth Hernandez: 303-954-1223, ehernandez@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ehernandez
