United Airlines passengers wait in the boarding area for their flights at Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado.
Robert Alexander | Getty Images
United Airlines’ newest ski destinations can be reached by bus.
The Chicago-based airline will begin offering three times a day bus service from the Denver International Airport hub to Breckenridge, Colorado on March 11, and four times a day to Fort Collins on April 1. Checked bags – and skis – are taken directly to the bus, provided by Landline, which will depart from a gate at the airport. Landline says seating capacity will be limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Travelers can book tickets directly to those destinations and transfer to the Denver bus service after their flights.
Travelers “don’t just go to Denver,” said Ankit Gupta, United’s vice president of network and planning. “They actually want to ski and go to all these tourist destinations.”
Denver was a relatively bright spot for airlines during the pandemic, as it has many outdoor activities that travelers can physically distance themselves from, although Gupta said the airline has been discussing bus service for over a year. United’s service in Denver has recovered to about 80% of its 2019 traffic levels, most of the airline’s hubs.
Gupta said the idea is to capture the demand for travelers visiting areas within a roughly 100-mile radius of Denver and take the stress out of driving from the airport.
“We thought it was going to be a great testbed market,” he told CNBC. “We think it is a very low risk experiment.”
If successful, United can expand the service to other outdoor destinations outside of Denver or connections to its hubs in San Francisco and Newark.