United Airlines passengers are waiting in the boarding area for their flights to Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado.
Robert Alexander | Getty Images
The latest United Airlines ski destinations will be accessible by bus.
The Chicago-based airline on March 11 will begin offering a bus service three times a day from its center at Denver International Airport to Breckenridge, Colorado and four times a day at Fort Collins. April 1st. Checked luggage and skis – Will be transferred directly to the bus, provided by landline, which will depart from an airport gate. A landline says seating capacity will be limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Travelers can book tickets directly to these destinations and transfer them to the Denver bus service after their flights.
Travelers “don’t just go to Denver,” said Ankit Gupta, vice president of network and schedule planning at United. “They really want to ski and go to all these tourist destinations.”
Denver has been a relatively bright place for carriers during the pandemic, as it has many outdoor activities where travelers can physically distance themselves, although Gupta said the airline has been discussing the service. buses for more than a year. United’s Denver service has recovered about 80% of 2019 traffic levels, most of the airline’s hubs.
Gupta said the idea is to capture the demand from travelers visiting areas within a radius of about 100 miles from Denver and eliminate the stress of driving to the airport.
“We thought it would be a big test market,” he told CNBC. “We think it’s a very low-risk experiment.”
If successful, United could expand service to other overseas destinations outside of Denver or to connections with its San Francisco and Newark centers.