Denver (DEN) – Chicago (ORD)
- Distance
- 1,430 km
- 888 mi · 772 nm
- Flight time
- 2 h 35 min / 2 h 45 min
- Average gate to gate: DEN → ORD / back
- Time difference
- 1 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 179 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (106 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,974,190
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · −6.7%
- Flights / week
- 236
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 84%
- 2,338,054 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 6
- UA, AA, F9
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 ORD
- 266°
- Halfway point
- 41.23, -96.42
- Great-circle km
- 1,426 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DEN → ORD
- 1 h 55 min
- In the air ORD → DEN
- 2 h 9 min
- Clocks
- Chicago is 1 h ahead of Denver
The estimate for a route without real times is 2 h 30 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 207,192 |
| Sep 2025 | 206,344 |
| Oct 2025 | 203,242 |
| Nov 2025 | 135,779 |
| Dec 2025 | 140,516 |
| Jan 2026 | 123,192 |
| Feb 2026 | 126,384 |
| Mar 2026 | 153,257 |
| Apr 2026 | 143,652 |
| May 2026 | 175,038 |
| Jun 2026 | 179,075 |
| Jul 2026 | 180,519 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 1,188 |
| Sep 2025 | 1,215 |
| Oct 2025 | 1,248 |
| Nov 2025 | 831 |
| Dec 2025 | 841 |
| Jan 2026 | 799 |
| Feb 2026 | 884 |
| Mar 2026 | 962 |
| Apr 2026 | 973 |
| May 2026 | 1,169 |
| Jun 2026 | 1,070 |
| Jul 2026 | 1,076 |
Airlines flying DEN–ORD nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 146 | 69% |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 56 | 19% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 12 | 6% |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 15 | 5% |
| MQEnvoy Air | 4.8 | 1% |
| OOSkyWest Airlines | 1.9 | 0% |
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
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 4,666 flights
- Boeing 737-800 · 1,879 flights
- Airbus Industrie A319 · 1,201 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 1,083 flights
- Boeing 757-300 · 1,083 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 543 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 454 flights
- Boeing 777-200ER/200LR/233LR · 446 flights
Also carried: 3,305 tonnes of freight and 410 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 73.6%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 23 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 1.2%
- Flights counted
- 12,269
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 75.6% | 20 min |
| AAAmerican Airlines | 70% | 30 min |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 71% | 19 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 68.8% | 33 min |
| MQEnvoy Air | 75% | 14 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 25% · aircraft arriving late 40% · air traffic system 30% · weather 5% · 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
- $217
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $205
- Q2 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 68% of passengers · $237
- Lowest-fare airline
- American Airlines
- 21% of passengers · $188
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q2 2025 $201 · Q3 2025 $192 · Q4 2025 $216 · Q1 2026 $217).
Fare outlook, Q1 2027: about $221, likely $196–$252
The average fare paid we expect a year after Q1 2026, the newest DOT quarter. On this route, past forecasts made this way fell inside the range 86% of the time over 21 quarters (median error 6.5%). An estimate from US DOT data: not a price you can book, not a guarantee, not advice on when to buy. How the outlook works
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: 1,426 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 Chicago
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Denver airports · All Chicago airports
More routes from DEN
More routes from ORD
| Route | Distance | Passengers / year |
|---|---|---|
| ORD → LGA | 1,180 km | 2,736,902 |
| ORD → LAX | 2,808 km | 2,332,419 |
| ORD → SFO | 2,971 km | 1,976,484 |
| ORD → MCO | 1,617 km | 1,924,694 |
| ORD → DFW | 1,290 km | 1,916,312 |
| ORD → BOS | 1,395 km | 1,886,038 |
| ORD → EWR | 1,157 km | 1,731,402 |
| ORD → IAH | 1,489 km | 1,711,056 |
| ORD → PHX | 2,317 km | 1,706,053 |
| ORD → SEA | 2,769 km | 1,622,991 |