Denver (DEN) – Des Moines (DSM)
- Distance
- 949 km
- 590 mi · 512 nm
- Flight time
- 1 h 43 min / 2 h 1 min
- Average gate to gate: DEN → DSM / back
- Time difference
- 1 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 119 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (70 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 454,622
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −3.4%
- Flights / week
- 89
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 80%
- 567,723 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 4
- UA, WN, OO
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from DEN
- 75°
- Heading from DSM
- 262°
- Halfway point
- 40.83, -99.23
- Great-circle km
- 947 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DEN → DSM
- 1 h 17 min
- In the air DSM → DEN
- 1 h 32 min
- Clocks
- Des Moines is 1 h ahead of Denver
The estimate for a route without real times is 1 h 55 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 47,930 |
| Sep 2025 | 45,545 |
| Oct 2025 | 39,838 |
| Nov 2025 | 32,512 |
| Dec 2025 | 31,112 |
| Jan 2026 | 26,756 |
| Feb 2026 | 26,604 |
| Mar 2026 | 35,598 |
| Apr 2026 | 33,089 |
| May 2026 | 40,908 |
| Jun 2026 | 47,688 |
| Jul 2026 | 47,042 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 450 |
| Sep 2025 | 448 |
| Oct 2025 | 396 |
| Nov 2025 | 318 |
| Dec 2025 | 335 |
| Jan 2026 | 324 |
| Feb 2026 | 293 |
| Mar 2026 | 374 |
| Apr 2026 | 379 |
| May 2026 | 433 |
| Jun 2026 | 439 |
| Jul 2026 | 451 |
Airlines flying DEN–DSM nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 26 | 36% |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 21 | 29% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 36 | 25% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 6.1 | 10% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Embraer ERJ-175 · 1,769 flights
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 676 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 576 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 518 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 353 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 308 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-200n · 218 flights
- Canadair RJ-700 · 71 flights
Also carried: 130 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 81.9%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 14 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.6%
- Flights counted
- 4,661
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 89.3% | 10 min |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 78.1% | 18 min |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 74.4% | 18 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 81.8% | 14 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 35% · aircraft arriving late 35% · air traffic system 22% · weather 8% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $229
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $192
- Q3 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 60% of passengers · $270
- Lowest-fare airline
- Frontier Airlines
- 20% of passengers · $118
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q3 2025 $178 · Q4 2025 $185 · Q1 2026 $229).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 947 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.
Every airport pair between Denver and Des Moines
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Denver airports